Why don't you put it in do not disturb mode yourself then? Pmsl
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Apple Insists It's Not Responsible For Distracted Driving Accidents Involving iPhones
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Ugh tired of these. Just like suing firearms manufacturers any time some wacko decides to go on a rampage.
If Apple was running irresponsible ads showing shiny happy people texting while driving - maybe.
I believe that there was a case a while back with some moronic social media outfit giving "badges" for high-speed selfies. I'd say they deserved some of the responsibility. I'd file Tesla's "Autopilot" in the same bin: yeah, it's your responsibility to keep your hands on the wheel as instructed, but you don't have to be a genius to see that if people can use it as if it was full auto-drive, they will. Responsibility doesn't obey a conservation law - there's always more than enough to share!
I do think there ought to be safety standards for Apps that are designed to be used when driving (e.g. navigation apps) - there, there's no excuse for (e.g.) masking the driver to press a button on screen while they're driving*. E.g. there's a really stupid bit in Google Maps when it suggests an alternative route and rather than just telling you and waiting to see if you change course - its a GPS, it knows when you've made a turn - it pointlessly asks you asks you to hit a tiny 'accept' button on the screen.
So there's a line somewhere beyond which businesses should take responsibility for the design of their products.
However, I think its pretty clear which side of the line "texting while driving" stands (somewhere alongside texting while crossing the road...)
* Frankly, though, all automotive UI design needs better standards- e.g. saving money by using jog up/down switches and knobs that force you to watch a display while operating them c.f. a more expensive multi-position control that you can activate by feel.
I used to have this great Sony radio: if it lost the station it stared beeping quietly, then a bit louder, and louder because Oh! My! God! the radio has lost its station so forget that truck in front of you and the pedestrians on that crossing because the radio has lost its station and needs urgent attention! Stupid.
Right!! Guess some people never heard of turning of push notifications, problem solved.
NOT when we live in an age where the average jury thinks the insurance companies should pay. FREE money...
I haven't bought a Yetti cup, but I blame them because someone was playing flip-Yetti cup and it completely totaled my car. Sure ... I crashed into a tree, but it's clearly the Yetti cup at fault for distracting me.
Tort reform would fix these frivolous lawsuits. Lawyers would hate it, but it would discourage people from dispensing lawsuits based on greed like PEZ candy.
Wow we've reached the age of technology where grown adults cannot dad the responsibility of their own actions or lack of action when their clearly at fault. Then also blaming technology due to harm from another adult who yet again clearly cannot take responsibility for their own actions no matter how blatantly childish or ignorant of that action.
I swear some adults needed to have a patently arse whopping when they grew up, lol.
PS: this is solely aimed at the plaintiff in this court proceedings nobody else nor members of the macrumors forums.
Although I'm heavily sorry he plaintiff suffered mental and/or physical harm due to another persons texting on a phone. That person should be sued not Apple cause they used an Apple product. Yet I'm sure this has all been voiced before.
I swear some adults needed to have a patently arse whopping when they grew up, lol.
PS: this is solely aimed at the plaintiff in this court proceedings nobody else nor members of the macrumors forums.
Although I'm heavily sorry he plaintiff suffered mental and/or physical harm due to another persons texting on a phone. That person should be sued not Apple cause they used an Apple product. Yet I'm sure this has all been voiced before.
Welcome to today's society - where NOTHING is your fault
What a joke
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This is the snowflake generation
What a joke
[doublepost=1503082559][/doublepost]
This is the snowflake generation
These kinds of lawsuits are absurd. Looks like McDonalds will be sued for not disabling consumption of burgers while a person is engaged in driving.
Seriously though, it is the fault of the distracted driver. Could be they were using their iPhone or it could have been a billboard that caught their attention. Paying attention to what is important while driving (other drivers, road conditions, pedestrians, etc.) is the responsibility of the driver.
I got rear ended a few month back by a someone who was on their phone. Everyone was alright and things were handled in a calm manner. I did not blame the maker of his phone, nor did his insurance company. He was at fault, plain and simple. Even he recognized that. I serisouly hope these types of lawsuits do not gain any traction.
Seriously though, it is the fault of the distracted driver. Could be they were using their iPhone or it could have been a billboard that caught their attention. Paying attention to what is important while driving (other drivers, road conditions, pedestrians, etc.) is the responsibility of the driver.
I got rear ended a few month back by a someone who was on their phone. Everyone was alright and things were handled in a calm manner. I did not blame the maker of his phone, nor did his insurance company. He was at fault, plain and simple. Even he recognized that. I serisouly hope these types of lawsuits do not gain any traction.
The part of this article that astonishes me is an eloquent and well-reasoned verdict from a judge, about Apple, coming out of a Texas court, after the continuous stream of mostly absurd patent cases.
The bits about automatically locking out phones in cars are impractical at this point, since they can't reliably distinguish a driver's phone from a passenger's phone - they have to make a lot of assumptions and guesses. (To which somebody will often respond, "but if it saves even just one life..." - well, if that's the overriding goal, there's a solution that would save over 30,000 lives every year: ban cars, switch everybody over to public transportation - we'll lose a few people occasionally to bus/train accidents, but nothing like the nearly 100/day dying in car accidents in the US. Oh, but that would be too disruptive, you say? But you were just explaining how saving lives takes priority over everything else.)
The bits about automatically locking out phones in cars are impractical at this point, since they can't reliably distinguish a driver's phone from a passenger's phone - they have to make a lot of assumptions and guesses. (To which somebody will often respond, "but if it saves even just one life..." - well, if that's the overriding goal, there's a solution that would save over 30,000 lives every year: ban cars, switch everybody over to public transportation - we'll lose a few people occasionally to bus/train accidents, but nothing like the nearly 100/day dying in car accidents in the US. Oh, but that would be too disruptive, you say? But you were just explaining how saving lives takes priority over everything else.)
I get the point you are trying to make but I have to give a little more context to your example. A bartender can be successfully sued for serving someone who is clearly intoxicated or a known alcoholic that later causes a traffic incident.
Thank god im not the only one in this thought. Snowflake generation lol I honestly like that analogy.
rightfully so. lets also blame iPhones on all the people who text and walk then falling into water fountains.
The plaintiff would possibly have a case if there was already a government mandated industry wide standard lock-out technology in place and Apple's iPhone had a reliability issue that Apple had knowingly neglected to correct in a timely manner. But that is not the case here.
Loving all the comments which are worded differently but amount to the same thing. “Person suing is a moronic rhino shart”. I wish that every state in ‘Murica would pass laws like in Washington State. They are crack-a-lackin’ down on phone use whilst driving. Better yet, adopt the laws of Australia and the UK! Them be sum tuff laws dere!
Gun manufacturers get sued and have been held liable when people don't handle guns correctly. So why the double standard?
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Just like guns be don't kill people.
People kill people.
True in a way. I just got a ticket by CHP here in California for driving while looking at my phone. I'm GUILTY. It is incredibly dangerous. But - one point I'd like to bring up is that I only picked up my phone because the LAME "MY FORD TOUCH" wasn't working correctly. But I am guilty.
And what will happen when I get a phone call if I do? Because my car has full voice controlled built in Bluetooth hands free. Not that I get that many calls.