Family Sues Apple, Claiming FaceTime Distracted Driver in Crash That Killed 5-Year-Old Daughter

[DoktorAkcel]

[QUOTE]A Texas couple is suing Apple, claiming that its FaceTime app distracted a driver who rammed into the couple's car, killing their 5-year-old daughter.

Parents James and Bethany Modisette are suing Apple for damages on the basis that the electronics giant failed to install and implement a "safer, alternative design" for FaceTime that would have helped prevent a driver from using the app while traveling at highway speed, court documents show.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 23 in California Superior Court in Santa Clara County, also claims that Apple failed "to warn users that the product was likely to be dangerous when used or misused" or to instruct on its safe usage.

The accident occurred Christmas Eve in 2014 near Dallas, when, according to the lawsuit, the Modisettes were driving in a Toyota Camry, with daughter Moriah, 5, in a booster seat in the left rear passenger seat and her sister, Isabella, next to her in the right rear seat.[/QUOTE]

[URL]http://abcnews.go.com/US/family-sues-apple-claiming-facetime-distracted-driver-crash/story?id=44506168[/URL]

[bastian-07]

not their liability. if some idiot was admiring a pistol while driving would you sue s&w

[LoneWolf_Recon]

Condolences to the family, but this is impulsive suing.

There's a reason DoTs everywhere have public PSAs about distracted driving, in the end its the drivers fault.

[Nahash]

I feel sorry for the parents but they are suing the wrong people. Sue the driver for killing their daughter, emotional damages, and all that stuff. Apple has no responsibility for how their product is used. It's like the Sandy Hook families suing gun manufacturers.

[kylel999]

So if I kill someone because I'm reading a fucking book while driving, can I sue the author because he didn't specifically say not to read and drive?

[editline]3rd January 2017[/editline]

Gimme a break, I know they're probably broken about the loss of their child but trying to sue Apple is obviously an emotionally-influenced knee-jerk reaction that won't do anything except waste their time being thrown out in court and their money for the bloodsucking lawyer (i say bloodsucking because any lawyer should know this case will go nowhere)

[gudman]

[quote]Parents James and Bethany Modisette are suing Apple for damages on the basis that the electronics giant failed to install and implement a "safer, alternative design" for FaceTime that would have helped prevent a driver from using the app while traveling at highway speed, court documents show.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 23 in California Superior Court in Santa Clara County, also claims that Apple failed "to warn users that the product was likely to be dangerous when used or misused" or to instruct on its safe usage.[/quote]
Yeah, poor fucking driver. So what if he was using the app that required paying attention to it at the expense of, well, something you should be paying attention to when driving, you know? The fucking [i]road[/i]? The app in question didn't explicitly and in unambiguous terms warn him that it's dangerous to not pay attention to the road! But the driver probably doesn't have enough money so lets try to squeeze some out of Apple using our own tragedy!

What's wrong with them.

[스카치 여우]

This is right from apple's [URL="http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/iOS10.pdf"]iOS 10 Terms[/URL]

[quote]
(j) Using your iOS Device in some circumstances can distract you and may cause a dangerous situation
(for example, avoid typing a text message while driving a car or using headphones while riding a
bicycle). By using your iOS Device you agree that you are responsible for observing rules that prohibit or
restrict the use of mobile phones or headphones (for example, the requirement to use hands-free options
for making calls when driving).
[/quote]
[quote]
... For your safety when using the navigation feature, always pay attention to posted
road signs and current road conditions. Follow safe driving practices and traffic regulations, and note
that walking directions may not include sidewalks or pedestrian paths.
[/quote]

So this should mean case closed.

[garychencool]

[QUOTE=bastian-07;51618780]not their liability. if some idiot was admiring a pistol while driving would you sue s&w[/QUOTE]

They are just suing the party that has the most money at this point

[BlackPhoenix]

The lawsuit is not about the use of Facetime, but about Apple patenting a safety feature for apps like Facetime and not actually implementing it, e.g. it's supposed to be a lawsuit against a patent filed on a non-existent invention.

[LineArc]

While it would be easy to implement a GPS speed lockout for anything above 20km/h for facetime, the problem with that is what if you're a passenger and you want to talk with a friend on a long boring drive?

Its up to the user to use it at the appropriate time, and be aware that using facetime while driving endangers themselves as well as other. The driver is at fault, not the manufacterer.

[Van-man]

[QUOTE=Valon Kyre;51619016]While it would be easy to implement a GPS speed lockout for anything above 20km/h for facetime, the problem with that is what if you're a passenger and you want to talk with a friend on a long boring drive?[/QUOTE]

Or public transportation.

Either way, this is the drivers' fault (as you also said), so sue that fucker instead.

[Jund]

[QUOTE=BlackPhoenix;51618989]The lawsuit is not about the use of Facetime, but about Apple patenting a safety feature for apps like Facetime and not actually implementing it, e.g. it's supposed to be a lawsuit against a patent filed on a non-existent invention.[/QUOTE]

except NPEs aren't illegal

[quote]The Modisettes contend in their suit that, "At the time of the collision in question, the iPhone utilized by Wilhelm contained the necessary hardware (to be configured with software) to automatically disable or 'lock out' the ability to use [FaceTime] ... However, Apple failed to configure the iPhone to automatically 'lock out' the ability to utilize FaceTime while driving at highway speeds, despite having the technical capability to do so."[/quote]

by having the "necessary hardware (to be configured with software)" they mean that the iPhone had to tech to do a GPS speed lockout, but apple didn't make the software for it because that would be retarded

[Raidyr]

I'm not quite sure what the solution is but I'm seeing this more and more during my commute and its damn near rage inducing. Holding your phone to your head and carrying on a conversation is dangerous enough, people holding that shit in front of their face is absurd.

[JennyC6]

It's not apple's fault that some dumbass was on facetime while driving.

[bitches]

[QUOTE=Raidyr;51619196]I'm not quite sure what the solution is but I'm seeing this more and more during my commute and its damn near rage inducing. Holding your phone to your head and carrying on a conversation is dangerous enough, people holding that shit in front of their face is absurd.[/QUOTE]

A good first step would be stricter punishments for those caught doing this, even in cases without an accident occurring. If texting while driving resulted in seizure of your license for a year and the revocation of your license plate, I imagine less drivers would act so irresponsibly.

[MR-X]

[QUOTE=Svinnik;51618799]I feel sorry for the parents but they are suing the wrong people. Sue the driver for killing their daughter, emotional damages, and all that stuff. Apple has no responsibility for how their product is used. It's like the Sandy Hook families suing gun manufacturers.[/QUOTE]

They're not trying to cash in on it, they're trying to get apple to set up a feature which does not allow people to use facetime going at a high rate of speed.

[quote]The Modisettes contend in their suit that, "At the time of the collision in question, the iPhone utilized by Wilhelm contained the necessary hardware (to be configured with software) to automatically disable or 'lock out' the ability to use [FaceTime] ... However, Apple failed to configure the iPhone to automatically 'lock out' the ability to utilize FaceTime while driving at highway speeds, despite having the technical capability to do so." [/quote]

[Jund]

[QUOTE=MR-X;51619322]They're not trying to cash in on it, they're trying to get apple to set up a feature which does not allow people to use facetime going at a high rate of speed.[/QUOTE]

they [B]are[/B] trying to cash in on it because they aren't starting a movement to make a facetime lock, they're suing because such a lock wasn't implemented in the time of the crash

wow congrats the GPS said i'm going too fast so i can't use facetime. how about i just turn the GPS off

why specifically go for facetime and not also lock out texting and general phone usage too? because they want the money

[garychencool]

[QUOTE=Valon Kyre;51619016]While it would be easy to implement a GPS speed lockout for anything above 20km/h for facetime, the problem with that is what if you're a passenger and you want to talk with a friend on a long boring drive?

Its up to the user to use it at the appropriate time, and be aware that using facetime while driving endangers themselves as well as other. The driver is at fault, not the manufacterer.[/QUOTE]

It's as if you still can't get into a car accident at 20km/h

[Tuskin]

[QUOTE=Jund;51619364]they [B]are[/B] trying to cash in on it because they aren't starting a movement to make a facetime lock, they're suing because such a lock wasn't implemented in the time of the crash

wow congrats the GPS said i'm going too fast so i can't use facetime. how about i just turn the GPS off

why specifically go for facetime and not also lock out texting and general phone usage too? because they want the money[/QUOTE]

They just lost their child

[Spazi]

Is using phone while driving not illegal to begin with?

[JennyC6]

[QUOTE=garychencool;51619393]It's as if you still can't get into a car accident at 20km/h[/QUOTE]

Difference being that even a Model T is safe enough for you to walk away unscathed from a crash at that low of a speed. You're not even really going to endanger a pedestrian if you're in one of these plastic fantastic cars, that's within their pedsafe design parameters.

Of course, dumbasses are going to defy all that stands before them and dumbassery, so trying to use speed to cap facetime is doubly pointless. Not only will you inconvenience anyone trying to use it on a plane or a train, in a bus or a taxi, et al, but the dumb people will either switch to an app that doesn't have it, disable the app's ability to sense speed, or just modify the app to not do so at all.

Rather than try to idiot proof FaceTime, just remove the idiots from the driver's seat with incredibly strict penalties for being caught on the phone. First offense, lose license for a year, car impounded for a year. Second offense(Or a reoffense while suspended) and the car gets crushed + lifetime ban on driving. Fines and tickets don't work, we need to make sure these people cannot drive.

[editline]3rd January 2017[/editline]

[QUOTE=Tuskin;51619428]They just lost their child[/QUOTE]

Doesn't excuse an obvious moneygrab/frivolous lawsuit. The correct lawsuit to file would be wrongful death against the driver that was on FaceTime.[QUOTE=Talishmar;51619539]Is using phone while driving not illegal to begin with?[/QUOTE]

Oh it is, but the penalties are so lenient(Usually a fine no more than $500 and a couple points, written as 'distracted driving' which is also applied to other things like fiddling with your CD changer or doing your makeup or whatever) and catching people is so infrequent that people do it anyway.

[Jund]

[QUOTE=Tuskin;51619428]They just lost their child[/QUOTE]

yeah i knew someone was gonna post something like this

it's because they lost their child that they can attempt to do this without being ignored or laughed out of court

"they just lost their child" doesn't mean anything because it doesn't change what they're trying to do. if you're asking me to pity them because they just lost their kid i never said i wasn't pitying them

if you're asking for the judicial system to have leeway with their suit because they just lost their kid you need to get real

[Jaguar]

Why not sue the car manufacturer too for not implementing crash prevention while you're at it?

[Tuskin]

[QUOTE=Jund;51619770]yeah i knew someone was gonna post something like this

it's because they lost their child that they can attempt to do this without being ignored or laughed out of court

"they just lost their child" doesn't mean anything because it doesn't change what they're trying to do. if you're asking me to pity them because they just lost their kid i never said i wasn't pitying them

if you're asking for the judicial system to have leeway with their suit because they just lost their kid you need to get real[/QUOTE]

How do you know they're not doing this because of their child?

It isn't just for the money.

[octopod]

[QUOTE=Tuskin;51619895]How do you know they're not doing this because of their child?

It isn't just for the money.[/QUOTE]

losing your child doesn't make it okay to sue the wrong person/company and get away with it

...if i'm understanding the argument correctly.

don't get me wrong i feel sorry for their loss too but when it comes to the law and shit emotions should really stay out of it. if it was an incorrect lawsuit to begin with then that's that.

[gudman]

[QUOTE=Tuskin;51619428]They just lost their child[/QUOTE]

And because of that they completely lost their mental faculties except for the ones that let you go get a lawyer to try and sue gigantic corporation for retarded reason. Idk, to me it looks like these people are trying to turn their tragedy into some tangible monetary value, I find it abhorrent. No idea if they will go after the driver himself, but Google still has nothing to do with it, there's absolutely no reason to go after them. No one in any state of mind can actually think that they're responsible, let alone try and make a case on such retarded premises.

Also yeah, fuck off with GPS speed lockouts. How about go eat a dick restricting sensible and responsible people for idiots' mistakes. Just crank up the punishment for getting caught staring at your phone while driving, that shit is worse than DUI, at least those look at the road, albeit with drunken eyes.

[Dawnkiller]

Coming from the UK, where it looks like the law is going to be be changed to make distracted driving as bad as drink driving, and with prison sentences measured by years, this is ridiculous. The case has absolutely no grounds at all to begin with, even if it wasn't against Apple.

But seeing as it is Apple, trying to sue them is like trying to sue a brick wall. You're not going to get anything out of it.

[DOCTOR LIGHT]

The three people you don't sue are Disney, McDonalds, and Apple. in descending order.

[Ganerumo]

[QUOTE=DOCTOR LIGHT;51621352]The three people you don't sue are Disney, McDonalds, and Apple. in descending order.[/QUOTE]

Didn't someone sue mcdonalds successfully about getting burned by boiling coffee ?

[Steam-Pixie]

You're not allowed to be on your phone while driving anyway. Common sense right there :v: