Are people really this stupid? or is it just that people are this greedy?

http://consumerist.com/m/2010/05/woman-sues-google-maps-after-getting-hit-by-car.html

Woman Sues Google Maps After Getting Hit By Car
By Chris Morran on May 31, 2010 2:28 PM 0 views

A woman from L.A. has filed a lawsuit against Internet leviathan Google, claiming that the walking directions she was given by its Google Maps site led her to walk down a Utah highway, where she was hit by a car.

According to the lawsuit, on Jan. 19, the plaintiff was attempting to get from one address in Park City, Utah, to another by pedestrian power. She checked Google Maps for walking directions and was told that part of the walk included a .5-mile jaunt down Deer Valley Drive, AKA Utah State Route 224, a rural highway on the edge of the small town best known as the home of the Sundance Film Festival. While walking this stretch of road, the plaintiff was struck by a car.

From her lawyer:

As a direct and proximate cause of Defendant Google’s careless, reckless and negligent providing of unsafe directions, [the plaintiff] was led onto a dangerous highway, and was thereby stricken by a motor vehicle, causing her to suffer sever permanent physical, emotional, and mental injuries, including pain and suffering.

She's suing Google for $100,000 in medical expenses and additional punitive damages; the vehicle's driver is also named in the suit.

As PC World points out in its story about the lawsuit Google Maps does have a caveat to readers in a highlighted box directly above the directions:
"Walking directions are in beta.
Use caution - This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths."

However, the plaintiff says she got the directions on her Blackberry and this warning does not appear on mobile devices.

What do you think: Does the plaintiff have a point? Or should she have just gotten a cab?

Woman Sues Google for Bad Directions [PC World]

UPDATE: This story was originally reported by SearchEngineLand, enjoy the tale of how it eventually made it to the AP.

She should of taken the short bus. Serves her right for being dumb! She is lucky she's not road kill!!!

She's obviously suffering from 'Dumber-Than-A-Sack-Of-Hammers' Syndrome ...

Google's fault that she got hit by a car. Wow.

Google didnt cause the car to hit her....Id imagine no case

yeah, was the driver not at fault? bet she was walking with traffic

the driver was named in the suit as well....seems like she just wants someone to pay because she stupid.....

Personally I think i wish it would have been DOA(dead on arrival) natural selection...she obviously isn't that bright...take her out of our breeding pool please.

the rules for natural selection have changed

apparently

She has no case. Google can not be held liable for HER actions.

But remember it was McDonald's fault for the lady that spilt hot coffee on herself

You can't fix dumb. I can see it now google will settle ou of court and then they will end up charging for their services because of all the disclaimers they will have to use in order for people to use them

The reason she is suing Google is because they are the "deep pockets" meaning they have more money than the driver that hit her, which she is suing as well of course.
They may try to get Google for negligence of forseeability in that the company should have known the warnings posted would not show up on a Blackberry phone, therefore a person not able to see them because of the use of the phone, rather than a computer, may be hurt without the cautions being visible, warning of the possible hazards.
She is probably hoping Google will settle, because she won't have a team of top notch lawyers like Google will if it goes to trial, as obviously she couldn't afford it. If Google is anything like the Disney corporation, they'll never settle. But in her favor, less than 5% of all cases actually go to trial. Another case of hoping for a quick buck...

P.S. If the lawyer REALLY thinks she has a case that can be won then he might be taking it on a contigency fee.