Comments on: Is GPS liability next?

Who's on the hook when a navigation system's instructions result in an accident?

[lmasanti]

Is it possible...

Is it possible that we regain our own responsability.
A man is crossing the railroad and paying attention to the GPS.

I'm glad that that man has enough intelligence left in its brain to
went out of the car... Or was this a GPS order?

Doesn't the military service that provides the GPS signal warns
you about inaccuracies due to "defense reasons"?

[ncgmcpherson]

Sorry article

This is a half hearted article. Why didn't you look at your own contract and tell us what it says and what the current rights are. It appears you read a newspaper article and gave your opinion.

BTW, I will say anyone who turns on to a set of train tracks because a GPS unit told him to is nuts! I know people have become lazy over the years, but that is beyond anything I ever thought I would hear about. Wonder if he would have driven into a lake if it told him to.

[lkrupp]

You can sue for anything these days

I'm sure the tort lawyers are searching through their law books
as we speak. This sounds like a perfect way for the lawyers to
make some more easy money. Of course it takes stupid people
on juries to actually do the dirty deed but that's never been a
problem in our country. There are plenty of stupid people who
get on juries.

This will probably work because it follows the tried and true
formula for liability cases...

Stupid person + stupid action + ambulance chasing lawyer =
money.

[mreiher]

UGH!

All I can say is the human behind the wheel - not the GPS is the one
that wrecked! This is just another example of the news over
sensationalizing common sense.

[eyeque1988]

Technically speaking

Speaking of common sense... Common sense would tell you that he actually parked the car on the tracks & the train wrecked the car... His action lead to the car being wrecked but he did not do it himself.

[LarryLo]

GPS Disclaimer

When I start my car, I have to agree to a legal sounding disclaimer about road directions and conditions, use your better judgement, yada yada yada.

Wouldn't that insulate the manufacturer from being sued?

If they are successfully sued, I can see a new message showing up "If you want to use our GPS press here, agree not to sue and to mandatory arbitration" ;)

[MichaelSM55]

GPS

Well, I do a bit of ocean sailing, and it was remarkable to be in Hobart recently, and to find that our yacht was 4 km inland of our dock.
According to the GPS.
It becomes a matter of who puts the info into the GPS.
Surely it is the responsibility of the GPS owner to update the parameters.
Garbage in, rubbish out, as they say.
Mike.

[eBob1]

I am sick and tired of stupid people

Stupid people are going to ruin it for everybody. If a navigation device maker is sued because someone is stupid enough to follow its instructions verbatim without looking, then there will be no such devices for people to use. They will simply be withdrawn from the market.

There was a time when stupid people simply got themselves killed by doing something stupid. Nowadays, they are protected so they are able to mature and breed. Just look at all the people voting for Obama and Huckabee.

I see stupid people. They're everywhere and they vote!

[whizkid454]

Specifically stated in the manual and elsewhere...

"Your device is a driving AID, not a driver replacement. Use your best judgment at all times while driving."

Since common sense isn't that common anymore, how about I give a helpful suggestion: READ!

[TravP]

A GPS does not replace good sense

Until our GPS devices are actually driving our cars, the driver is still the one ultimately responsible for paying attention and operating the vehicle in a sensible manner.

If a GPS told me to cross train tracks that did not have an obvious road crossing, I'd keep driving past that point and let the GPS do an automatic re-route.

Most GPS devices warn you a good 3-400 feet in advance of route changes, so there's really no excuse for not looking ahead to see where you're going. So far, I have not had to make any "split second" driving decisions while using a GPS since I'm willing to miss the turn, come back around, and get back on route rather than making sudden movements in traffic.

The GPS is a tool that aids in navigation. It is not a replacement for paying attention while driving.

[Hernys]

Disclaimer not needed

I would say that a disclaimer screen in the GPS or manual is not even needed. If you guided yourself with a paper map and found that the track on the map was off by a few hundred meters, would you blindly follow the map? If you crashed against a wall then, would you sue the map company?
A map is clearly an aid, but no one can use it without applying common sense. Same thing for a GPS. Otherwise we will have to start including disclaimers in paper maps.

[tlassanske]

Grand Canyon

Seems I was smart enough not to listen to MY GPS when it told me to drive off-road and over the edge of the Grand Canyon!

[Renegade Knight]

A GPS is a Tool. Just like the Car.

It's a mapping tool What would this driver had done 20 years ago when he followed a paper map to the exact same location? GPS has the same issues as any other map. Mostly accurate, partly not.

[irondog1970]

When it's between a car & a train?

Even if the gates malfunctioned, even if the bells didn't ring, even if the red lights weren't flashing, when it comes down to a train hitting a car, it is always the car's fault.

Call me crazy, but a driver should 1) pay attention to the road & is responsible at all times to know what road conditions are, 2) stop, look, listen, and live.

Sound advice when I was 15 getting my learner's permit, and I think those words still apply today.

[ittesi259]

Driver's Responsibility

It is a the driver's requirement to maintain control of the car in all situations. Its not a radio stations fault if he's so concerned whats happening on the radio he rear ends the person in front of him. Likewise my GPS unit makes me hit a button to get off a warning screen telling me that although I have this, I need to pay attention.

What nobody has reported, and what I am curious about...is did this moron actually turn onto the track or just get stuck in the crossing? Common sense says "Um, thats a railroad track".

Of course in the "Its everybody's fault but mine" society we have, I'm sure he'll sue the GPS Manufacturer.....and lose.

[sanenazok]

Oh yes he did, he actually TURNED onto the RR Tracks

"...following the directions given by his rental car's GPS when he turned his car onto the track"
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/248336/Man_Blames_Rental_Car_GPS_for_His_Accident_with_Train

Beyond being a moron, I like this tech's understanding of physics. He got out of the car and waived at the train operator to get his attention. Sure given the weight of the train he would have been able to stop it IF he had run TWO MILES ahead!!

[cmstratton]

This is What's Wrong with America

I'm glad to see this article is still more of a thought experiment, but if someone really were to press a lawsuit like this, it truly would be representative of one of the biggest things wrong with America - our litigious society.

No one wants to assume responsibility for their actions anymore. As soon as something bad happens, people are quick to point the finger at someone else and raise a lawsuit because it's "their fault."

What if the GPS had told the person to turn off of a 50 foot bridge into the water. Would a reasonably sane person say "well the GPS told me to 'jump off the bridge' so I'd better do it." Or would a reasonably sane person say "There must be something wrong with the GPS, this isn't right."

[itchief]

Technology is the Opiate of the Masses!

Every time I hear the adjective "smart" added to a noun (smart car, etc.) I think of all the stupid people who will abrogate their common sense and judgment to a silicon chip. Unfortunately, the next "logical" step is for them to abandon their responsibility and to sue the GPS manufacturer when the user does something stupid. "The CPU made me do it!" I eagerly await the first law suit when a self-parking car injures a pedestrian!

[davidvh2]

Aid

GPS in a car, aircraft or marine vessel is nothing more than an aid & should be treated as such. The drivers, pilots or skippers are supposed to be intelligent people & take care with their navigation by cross-checking with other pointers & not just blindly forge on in the belief that their GPS is infallible.

[Dr_Zinj]

Driver is 100% at fault

There is one, and only one person in control of the vehicle at a time; the driver. The driver is responsible for the operation of the vehicle inspite of any distractions inside, or outside, of the vehicle.

He'd have a valid excuse if the tracks were covered with snow and not visible, and he mistook it for the roadway. But to blame it on the GPS???

Let's change the scenario. Instead of driving down a railroad track, he turned right into the path and right-of-way of an on-coming school bus, causing an accident that resulted in the death of 45 children and the bus driver.

Nope. I don't care what the map or the GPS say. They aren't the ones driving, you are.

[virtdave]

technology makes us stupid and lazy, again

A couple of years ago, I leased a car in France, with a GPS system. I became lazy enough that I dispensed with my usual stash of maps, and late at night, when setting out from Paris to return the car prior to our flight back to the USA, the GPS crashed and could not be rebooted. No maps. My wife said, as we were going through Clichy-sous-Bois on the way to Roissy, "Let's just stop and ask those nice lads in hoodies partying at the roadside." Luckily I did not, and the next day we found that we had passed through the first night of rioting there, in which hundreds of cars were burned.....

[klank10]

Virtual will never replace reality.....

While our technology continues to evolve, our biology remains --

Is it possible we depend on someone to tell us what's right and what's wrong.. Or is it possible we can still have those thoughts on our own...

As the technology becomes more refined and we start to incorporate the newly developing technology - things will get better - mean while we'll have to keep thinking!

The Technology exists and these who understand and care can see what's coming-up next..

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