“A lawsuit blaming Apple for a child’s death in a car crash, has been dismissed by a US appeals court in California,” BBC News reports. “Garrett Wilhelm told police he was using FaceTime on the iPhone 6 when he crashed into the back of a family car.”
“Five-year-old Moriah Modisette died from the injuries she sustained in the 2014 Christmas Eve accident in Texas,” BBC News reports. “Her family held Apple responsible for not enabling ‘lockout’ technology on the phone.”
“The Modisette family alleged Apple was responsible for the accident as it had considered utilising technology to detect motion on its phones and disable certain functions when driving. Apple had patented this technology but it was not included on the iPhone 6. The lawsuit states Apple’s iPhone 6 was ‘defective’ and shouldn’t have been shipped without the lock-out feature,” BBC News reports. “In May, a court had dismissed the case, leading to the appeal. The appeals court agreed with the earlier decision, concluding Apple ‘did not owe the Modisettes a duty of care.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The only thing defective was the judgement of the person trying to use FaceTime while driving. Apple likely did decided not to block FaceTime use when iOS devices sense they are moving at high speeds because passengers in cars, trains, buses, and planes would obviously also be blocked unnecessarily.
SEE ALSO:
Apple sued by parents who claim FaceTime caused 5-year-old daughter’s Christmas Eve death – December 29, 2016
I’d be so pissed off if the iPhone did not allow me to make calls or use FaceTime when I was a passenger in a car, truck, train, etc…come on people.
Perhaps Apple then should take a page from Pokemon Go and at least put up a notification to confirm the user is not the one driving.
There is already a law on the books about watching video while driving. Of using computers while driving. And in many states of texting while driving. Some even have hands-free laws.
But, somehow, Money from a third party, not involved in the accident caused by stupidity, will make up for the loss of a child?
What do you call a million Lawyers at the bottom of the sea… A good start.
The U.S. needs Tort Reform! The Number One cause of High Medical and Insurance Costs! A Major Contributor to the higher costs of products from frivolous lawsuits. Why does a hairdryer need a warning label that states not to use while showering? and on and on….
Don’t blame lawyers. It’s your country. The rest of the world has plenty of lawyers, so that’s not it. The US – 5% of the world’s population; 95% of the world’s lawsuits.
That sounds like a made up statistic, or a figure of speech.
If you want to blame a deep pocket, blame the state for giving that idiot a drivers license.
Good idea, but we are quickly approaching the point in society where even a blazing idiot driver will sue the state for violation of his or her “right” to a drivers license even though that person might be a proven danger to society. “access” will be the magic word.