We all know by now of the couple recently stranded in their car because their navigation system erroneously took them many miles off course. Luckily for the couple, they had dried food to eat while waiting to be rescued. For many other, they will not be as lucky when their navigation systems fail them and provide wrong directions.
With the advent of satellite navigation, millions of Americans are beginning to depend on navigation tools to find their way both around town and across country, millions of Americans are beginning to depend on navigation tools to find their way both around town and across the country. This navigation technology is making for many confused drivers, who struggle to follow directions that do not make sense and do not square with the street names they see on local corners.
Is it possible that drivers will be able to bring an action against the makers of GPS tools? In the first instance, whether it is declared formally or not, GPS and satellite direction tools are meant to guide a driver to the destination. They are often not the end all, and be all to substituting a good old paper map of the area. Maps and formal directions are available online and in paper form. With so much technology, reading a map has certainly become passé. But it is a lost art worth taking up again, because frankly, the GPS system is not always correct.
Of course, if you read the instructions very clearly, and read between the lines and even the small print, you might find that the satellite navigational system will have a disclaimer clause. It will state somewhere in the materials that came with the tool, that the service is meant to be accurate, but that they will probably not be held responsible if the system fails. If the service is one that requires a subscription, is considered a paid service, or requires that the driver continually update his system after paying for materials or downloads from the internet – an argument might be made that the driver should be able to reasonably expect the service to perform accurate directions on demand.
Finally, even though a driver is relying on the GPS navigation system to give the correct directions, the driver is in control of the vehicle. The navigation tool is not a substitute for the careful driver who is supposed to realize that there are man-made obstacles such as construction or cars parked where the navigation is telling it to go. Or that there is a mud slide on the road, and that it is now necessary for the navigation system to “recalculate” the directions, to get around a hazard safely.
In the end, the driver is going to have responsibility as to how the car is driven, where it is driven and if it is driven safely. The navigation system cannot actually “see” the driver. There is a false sense of security since the navigation system is actually “talking” to the driver, and telling the driver to turn left or right at certain intervals. The same way my wife tells me, whenever I ask her which way we should go, she says “you’re the driver, driver,” the navigation systems are leaving the real driving up to the driver. And isn’t that the way it should be?
If you have been in an accident or have experienced a loss as a result of using a navigation system, you may want to talk to an expert at auto accidents. Give us a call at Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or email us at www.ledgerlaw.com<. We are available to answer your questions for you and will review each case on the merits for real results.
