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That's the question being raised in a lawsuit by Lauren Rosenberg. She
claims that after using Google Maps' "Walking Directions" feature on her
BlackBerry (there's the problem: not Android or iPhone), she was led onto a
busy highway and hit by a car.
Rosenberg has sued both Google and the car driver, Patrick Harwood, for
damages in excess of $100,000. The events occurred January 19, 2009, when
Rosenberg, using her Blackberry, got directions between 96 Daly Street and
1710 Prospector Avenue in Park City, UT.
Google's directions led her to “Deer Valley Drive.” Unfortunately, that's
also an alternate name for the highway known as Utah State Route 224, which
lacks sidewalks. Since Google didn't warn her about that fact, she claims
Google is at fault.
While Google explicitly warns online that the walking directions are in
beta, saying:
Walking directions are in beta.
Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.
it's unclear if this is shown on the BlackBerry. We have confirmed that
version of Google Maps installed on our Nexus One displays the same warning
information. However, the version we have on our iPhone 3GS does not.
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