According to news reports, a couple visiting Oregon over the Christmas holiday spent three days lost on a remote mountain road after the GPS they were described as following allegedly directed them far off the beaten path. Rescuers found them alive and apparently unharmed.
The couple’s frightful but fortunate experience raises a number of interesting Oregon products liability questions. My research into whether GPS data can be the basis of a personal injury lawsuit revealed no cases directly on point, but several possibilities for invoking liability against a GPS manufacturer may exist. One author has noted that
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.
Manufacturers would doubtless defend a personal injury lawyer’s allegations of negligence by pointing to the disclaimers of liability that accompany most GPS products and data. Even data provided by government agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service is generally subject to stringent qualifications that the information is provided with no warranties, expressed or implied, concerning data accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability. Oregon law provides that warranties may be disclaimed, excluded, or modified by words or conduct.
A plaintiff might counter that disclaimers purporting to relieve GPS manufacturers from all responsibility inaccurate data are unconscionable. People buy and use GPS devices precisely because the information provided by those products is supposed to be trustworthy, and most GPSs are not subtle about announcing what is supposed to be the accurate path.
Some would surely dismiss a GPS liability claim as a “frivolous lawsuit.” But the legal landscape surrounding this issue is more complex than it may appear. A driver following what he or she expects to be an expert guide into unfamiliar territory should have a reasonable right to rely on the guide’s directions. If those directions lead to harm despite a driver’s best efforts to follow them safely, the civil justice system should pick up where the global positioning system leaves off.
If you or loved ones have suffered serious injury while using a recreational product such as a GPS, ATV, or ski, contact a Portland, Oregon personal injury lawyer for a no-cost, no-obligation case evaluation. You may reach the Law Office of Dane E Johnson online or call us toll free at (800) 714-3204.
Related Web Resources
Glenn Steinbaum, Couple in Oregon Stranded in Snow Thanks to GPS, Ski Channel, Dec. 28, 2009.
Peter C. Neger, The Legal Landscape of GPS Devices: Are GPS Devices’ Navigational Capabilities a “Product” for Purposes of Product Liability Law or a “Service”?, New York Law Journal, Mar. 5, 2008.
Eric J. Sinrod, Editorial, Is GPS Liability Next?, CNet News, Jan. 16, 2008.
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