Comments on: Is GPS liability next?

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

[Heebee Jeebies]

Frankly....

If you can't trust a GPS unit to at least give you safe instructions ones that aren't going to get you killed then the creators of the GPS units and mapping technology need to be held accountable.

I don't see how anyone could be expected to believe that it is perfectly ok for a GPS unit to give you such in accurate information that it actually puts your life at risk. This is not something I think anyone would ever think possible.

If the GPS did actually give this person incorrect information that put his life at risk then the maker of the GPS unit and the mapping information should be held accountable.

While perfect instructions 100% of the time is not reasonable with these things, expecting it to not drive you off a cliff, drive you in front of a train or driving you in to an active volcano is something that the user should expect. Having you arrive at the address next door or at the back of your destination is one thing.

As for the person being smart enough to not follow the GPS over a cliff well, most people don't use a GPS system when they know where they are or are going. They rely on them when they don't know the area or how to get someplace. If your going to New York City and have never been and your from a city that 1/50th the size then you are going to rely on the GPS instructions no matter how odd them seem. I have been to plenty of cities that have had streets and other things done in such a way that make no logical or even common sense.

If you can't trust the GPS then they aren't worth a plug nickel. It is high time that consumers stop coming up with excuses as to why expensive gadgets don't work as they should and expect and demand that they do. Everything that has said the driver here is at fault is simply providing an excuse for the GPS makers to not make a product that works as it should. That makes you stupid to the extreme.

Robert

[Dalkorian]

please

Please tell me your kidding. You really think the GPS is at fault
here? The guy turned his car onto the railroad tracks, kept going
until it got stuck, then tried to flag down the approaching train
and that's somehow the fault of the GPS device?

A GPS device does NOT give you the right to drive your car with
your brain turned completely off. I don't know the intersection
at issue here, but I'm willing to bet that if he opened his eyes
and used his brain he would have seen the turn he was trying for
just past the RR crossing.

Let me put it to you this way: Your driving down a highway and
I'm a passenger. I tell you suddenly to turn into oncoming traffic
and hit the approaching semi head on. If you actually do this, is
it my fault for telling you or is it your fault for being stupid
enough to follow? Hint: I'm not the one driving the car!

[itchief]

Therefore...

...guns cause crime and forks cause obesity.

[megazone]

The driver bears all responsibility

ANY driver who blindly follows ANY instructions - be they from a GPS unit or a passenger - is a complete idiot. You are in command of the vehicle, you are responsible for the vehicle. If a passenger told you to 'turn right' onto tracks, and you did, it is your fault for being stupid. Any one with two neurons to bang together should be able to say "I've been told to turn right - but that's not a road, perhaps I should obey COMMON SENSE and not the instructions I've been given."

I mean, really, what has happened to personal responsibility? Own your actions. It makes me sick when people blame their GPS for their own idiocy.

[gsmiller88]

That's the price you pay...

I got a map from Yahoo! Maps just last week to find a wireless
store in a nearby city, and the last turn on the map was totally
wrong. The turn off was no where near my destination and I had to
stop at a gas station to ask for directions.

[craigbla]

Thank map monopoly for this...

You have only 2 map suppliers (TeleAtlas and NAVTEQ) with somewhat different markets and little incentive to be accurate. Sprint uses TeleAtlas for their store directions and some store locations are laughably wrong. I have a Mio GPS that uses TeleAtlas so it's also wrong. I hate frivolous lawsuits but only the threat of lawsuits will give TeleAtlas and NAVTEQ any incentive to fix their crappy maps. Congress never met a merger it didn't like and this situation is typical of the result of no competition in an industry.

[bluemist9999]

The driver is completely at fault

GPS navigational systems are very useful, but the car is not driving itself.

No matter what the GPS system says, driving on a river or onto train tracks is illegal and also very dangerous.

[zboot]

How did that guy pass his on road driver's exam?

When I had mine, I had an examiner giving me instructions on where to go and drive. I was told that I needed to follow his instructions at all time. I knew that if I did things wrong, I'd lose points and if I lost enough points, I'd fail.

We'd be in traffic, and he'd command, "merge into the left lane". Well, there was a car right next to me. I suppose I could have merged, but accident = instant failure. We'd come to a light, perhaps with a sign that says, No Turn on Red and he'd command, "make a right turn". I guess I could have done that, but likely lost a severe amount of points.

I don't buy the split second decision argument. If you're out driving and must make split second decisions, it means you don't know where you are going. That means that you have temporarily reduced the safety of everyone around you, because you may make some harebrained attempt to cut across several lanes to get to an exit you were not anticipating you'd take. In those situations, common sense and safety dictate that you go around. Goto the next exit and turn around or find a new route. With a GPS system, in most cases, new routes can always be found if you miss a turn. When directions, GPS, written, or voiced take me into someplace where I'm unsure of what's going on, ie a dark road, housing area, across a bridge, across train tracks, I'm even more cautious about checking for signage or other things to direct me as to where to go.

A GPS system gives direction, but I treat those directions as "advice". Streets change, maps age. GPS signals themselves are not always accurate. The current map in the unit is not always accurate. So, when traveling through an area where I'm not exactly sure of where I'm going, I look for what is most likely to be right, the local signs and direction, rather than my GPS.

This guy is liable. I feel sorry for him, but this is a clear case of suspending your own judgement in order to hurry or get someplace fast. We don't dismiss people with 120mph speeding tickets because they were in a hurry, they are punished regardless.

[chuck_whealton]

Re: Is GPS Liability Next

Eric:

I can't believe you're even writing this story.

My GPS also gives me incorrect directions at times. It's a fact of life. Not all technology is perfect.

As for the guy on the train tracks, that's another one I couldn't believe somebody wasted time writing a couple of weeks back (was that you also, Eric?).

Seriously, this story and the one from several weeks back were both a bad use of a web page.

Charles R. Whealton
Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com

[chrislymanbrown]

But was it a marked, legal road?

What is unclear, but a needed piece of this puzzle, is if the man drove over a normal, perfectly legal road that traversed a train track. I simply can't see anyone leaving a road at a random spot to drive over a set of train rails to get to the other side. Most likely the nav unit steered him over a marked road and it was simply bad luck that his car stalled as a train approached. That voice on the nav unit can't tell him, "Wait a minute, check to see if a train is coming, and have you checked your engine lately?" There is no lawsuit here.

[forsalenl]

I wonder if the driver removed the gps from his vehicle before he left his vehicle on the train tracks. I can just picture this guy standing along side the train tracks awaiting additional instructions from his gps.

"Recalculating.... Wave hands .... Dial 911.... In 200 seconds call lawyer"