Digital giant Google has been sued in a North Carolina court for negligence over a fatal accident by a motorist who used the Google Maps app that directed him to a washed-out bridge in which he died. Philip Paxson was driving home from a birthday party, on a route that he was not familiar with, prompting him to use Google Maps. The deceased’s widow brought the negligence action against Alphabet alongside the persons responsible for the bridge. The claim against Google is for failing to update its App even after being notified of the state of the bridge. In failing to do so, Google failed to observe the duty that it owes its app’s users.
To succeed in an action for negligence, the Plaintiff must show that:
- a duty of care was owed to the victim,
- the tortfeasor breached the duty of care and,
- as a consequence of the breach, the victim suffered harm.
These tests were established in the English case, Donoghue v Stephenson, where Mr Stephenson, sold a ginger drink that contained a dead snail to Mrs Donoghue. She suffered an illness after consuming the drink. She brought an action against Mr Stephenson. She succeeded in her claim, because Mr Stephenson owed her a duty of care. In the digital age, developing an app for navigation that is misleading or puts users in the way of harm is a breach of the duty of care. Although Google was not responsible for maintaining the bridge, it ought to have updated its maps to warn users of its App that the bridge had been destroyed.
