GPS and Liability For Technology Failures

The Legal Landscape of GPS Devices is an interesting March 5, 2008 New York Law Journal article by Peter Neger. In this article, the author notes our increasing dependence on technology such as cell phones and GPS devices and discusses possible legal liablity steming from their failures. He reports about an individual who was almost killed by a GPS mistake because it literally directed him onto railroad tracks. The author describes some of the possible legal issues as follows:

To our knowledge, no civil legal claims have been filed in this case, but one can certainly speculate about the types of legal finger-pointing that might arise out of incidents such as this one.

For instance, a driver could claim that when he purchased the GPS navigational device, he did so in reliance on the manufacturer's implicit (if not express) representations and warranties that it would direct him from point to point along recognized roadways, and not along the trackbed of a commuter railroad. A driver could also assert that a navigational device which directs its users into hazardous conditions is either defectively designed or should be required to be sold with prominent warnings and instructions to its users so that accidents are likely to be prevented.

Presumably, a manufacturer would point to its limited warranty and would assert that it is not liable for any incidental, special, indirect or consequential damages resulting from the use or misuse of the device. The manufacturer would assert that drivers should not completely turn off their common sense when switching on a GPS navigational tool, and that it is pretty much a given that driving an automobile along an operating railroad track is not a good idea.

How about a smart phone which does not timely deliver the mail or a voice mail message that is lost on a cell phone? These issues appear ripe for law review commentary.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein