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Pedestrian Follows Google Map, Gets Run Over, Sues
Hugh Pickens writes "The Toronto Star reports that a Utah woman is suing Google for more than $100,000 in damages, claiming its maps function gave her walking directions that led her onto a major highway, where she was struck by a car. Lauren Rosenberg sought directions between two addresses in Utah about 3 kilometers apart and the top result suggested that she follow a busy rural highway for several hundred meters. The highway did not have sidewalks or any other pedestrian-friendly amenities, and Rosenberg was struck by a car. Rosenberg filed suit against both the driver of the car that struck her and Google, claiming both carried responsibility in her injury. Her lawyers claim Google is liable because it did not warn her that the route would not offer a safe place for a pedestrian to walk. Google has pointed out that the directions Rosenberg sought come with a warning of caution for pedestrians, but Rosenberg claims that she accessed the Maps function on her Blackberry mobile device, where it did not include the warning."
People walk on busy highways without sidewalks and think they're going to be perfectly safe? Why on earth would a thinking person even consider going by that route?
I am scientifically inaccurate.
Who's fault is it when you're walking on a highway?
Nobody's perfect, lady, including Google. Maybe Google should sue you for not having the sense to stay out of the road.
she didnt press "im feeling lucky" button so
If he'd have done his job we wouldn't have to suffer through this kind of crap.
but sooo close. maybe next time. Please try again!
My mom taught me not to walk/play in traffic when I was four. Maybe this gal should sue her parents too?
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
IS the driver liable if she's just walking aimlessly down a highway? Where I'm from, it's actually illegal to walk down a highway with no sidewalk.
They're everywhere, and not enough of them are getting Darwin Awards even when they deserve them.
Now I'll admit it's terrible that she got hurt, but let's face it, how stupid could she be to blindly follow a map into traffic?
What if a fire had engulfed the area, would she have walked into that just because a map shows that as a viable route?
I don't know about you, but I tend to avoid getting in the way of high speed multi-ton solid objects, I understand about inertia and kinetic impacts.
Guess she should sue her parents for neglecting to teach her not to walk on roads with traffic. Or perhaps for not making sure her, as an adult, didn't do something so stupid, and then have the audacity to blame someone else for her death-wish activities.
The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
My thoughts on this article were influenced by my low empathy score.
Seriously and probably incurably retarded person gets injured through own sheer stupidity and wants others to pay. Lawyers will make a bundle. News at 11.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Her father is the one responsible. He pulled out too late.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
There are no kilometers in Utah.
Really... jeeze... What ever happened to common sense. If it looks dangerous... it probably is. If her Blackberry told her to insert her arm into an industrial shredder would she have done that as well?
Take a look at this... this is the road in question... There was plenty of room on the left side of the street to walk without being anywhere near the road.
I really hope this gets thrown out of court. People need to take responsibility for their own stupidity.
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Where I am the major highways only run to areas that are far enough apart that you couldn't really walk along a highway to any meaningful destination. It is very much illegal to walk or ride a bike on them.
Seriously. Where's a speeding, out-of-control Michael Bay-style 18-wheeler loaded with gasoline and hand grenades that's already on fire when you need one? I think Google's entire response should be a photocopy of an enormous erect penis that just says "suck it" at the bottom.
clearly he wasn't driving fast enough, and apparently his aim isn't so good either..
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
No, the post you're replying to is correct, pedestrians walk against traffic, bicyclists ride with traffic.
"There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.
but she did feel safe thanks to the lack of warning on the google directions.
I totally sympathize with her. I was looking up walking directions from Seattle to Brisbane, Australia and when the Google Maps turn #10 ended up being "Kayak across the Pacific Ocean," for 2,756 miles at first I was like, "No way I can kayak that far." But then I realized that Google Maps wouldn't tell me to do something that wasn't perfectly safe so I went ahead and did it.
Sooo... Long story short, do you think Omaha Steaks delivers to GPS coordinates in the ocean? Also, do they carry sunblock?
--Sent from my Blackberry wireless device
at least in my state(MN, USA) it's not that "bicyclists ride with traffic", it's "bicyclists are traffic, except where prohibited"(highways and such, they have signs at every entrance)
All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
See, thats why blackberry is great. An iPhone wouldn't get signal in the middle of the Pacific.
If sharing a song makes you a pirate, what do I have to share to be a ninja?