COLLAPSE James is traveling by car in NYC to visit a friend. He has never been t

Question

COLLAPSE James is traveling by car in NYC to visit a friend. He has never been to New York before and is relying on Google maps to navigate his car through the maze of NYC streets. At one point Google maps instructs him to turn right at the next intersection. James does and enters a one way street heading the wrong direction. James has a head on car collision with another vehicle traveling in the correct direction driven by Sue. There is serious damage to both automobiles and Sue suffers substantial bodily injury. Sue comes to you an attorney for advice. Who can Sue sue and what would be your theory of liability?

Explanation / Answer

Ans) Sue must file a case against James as he was the one driving the car at the time of the accident. However, New York is a 'No-fault' state, meaning no party can sue each other. Both the injured and preparator need to contact their respective insurance company to claim damages. However, this no-fault clause does not apply in case of serious injuries leading to death or disability (complete or partial) or medical bills beyond $ 50,000. So, in either of the cases, Sue can sue James provided she does that within the legal time limit of 3 years and has all the evidences in place like photographs of wreckage, medical bills, eye witnesses, CCTV footage etc.

Though some people will argue that James must file a Product Liability case against Google for the fault in the navigation app which caused bodily injuries to Sue, damaged both his and Sue's car and landed him in legal trouble as Sue will file a case against him. The company is this case can apply for Comparative fault and prove that James should have applied his own logic as well and should not have relied on Goodle maps completely. If he was driving properly, he would have seen the trafiic lights and signals and sign boards clearly indicating streets and roads. Thus, James is liable in absolute terms.

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