A woman is suing Google in excess of $100,000, accusing Google Maps of encouraging her to walk along a high-speed State Route in Utah where she was hit by a car during her trip on foot.
Lauren Rosenberg's lawsuit against Google claims that, while visiting Salt Lake City, Utah, the woman utilized Google Maps via her BlackBerry phone. Rosenberg was trying to find directions to walk from 96 Daly Avenue to destination of a 1710 Prospector Avenue, Park City, physical address. Her legal suit claims that those directions, as provided by Google Maps, advised her to walk along Deer Valley Drive, otherwise known as State Route 224.
The State Route 224, the lawsuit says, is an area "where vehicles travel at a high rate of speed and [is] devoid of pedestrian sidewalks". Apparently Rosenberg skipped Common Sense 101 and was struck by a vehicle. She now claims that the accident is "causing her to suffer severe physical, emotional, and mental injuries... and causing her to incur medical expenses in an amount exceeding $100,000" according to the lawsuit.
Google Maps does show the route that Rosenberg took as the advised pedestrian route, but includes a warning about possible dangers when the directions are viewed on a computer. It's not known whether those same Google warnings appear on cellular phones or on all other mobile devices. The lawsuit states that "Google undertook the duty to exercise reasonable care in providing safe directions to patrons of its Google Maps service. [But] Google failed to warn plaintiff Rosenberg of said known dangers..."
Sounds like a confusing bit of legal jargon: if Rosenberg is a patron, and the attorney claims "Google undertook the duty to exercise reasonable care in providing safe directions to patrons of its Google Maps service," then how exactly did Google fail "to warn Rosenberg of said known dangers"?
Rosenberg is also suing the driver who hit her, even though he didn't provide or suggest any directions, and is additionally asking the Court to award her damages in excess of $100,000. It's unclear as to how Rosenberg actually located an attorney willing to take on the suit-but apparently times are tough for everyone.