The great thing about these new mobile phones is that they can give you live directions to where you’re going. I’ve got several apps suited to walking, cycling and public transport on my ‘phone. I’ve even got one to track how many miles I cycle.
I listen to/read or otherwise follow the directions, but make my own mind up on the actual suitability of the roads I’m using. I know that if I go off track, the device will re-route me, taking into account my new direction.
For poor Utah, USA resident Lauren Rosenberg it was all a bit too much, we hear. In the peak of the January snow-storms she was battling her way across Park City on foot, and following the directions given by Google, on her ‘phone. The Google Maps app directed her to a four-lane road, with no footpath on the sdie of the road she was on.
Rosenberg tried to reach the footpath on the opposite side of the road, but was struck by a car. Apparently it was pitch black outside.
Laura is planning to sue Google for putting her into such a dangerous position. Her laywer, Allen Young, believes that the information on an electronic device is sufficient to trust your life with. Let’s face it, I’d use an iPhone over common sense crossing the road any day of the week. The mobile’s knowledge of oncoming traffic is far more superior to my mere human senses.
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