Have you ever heard someone blame their GPS for a mistake that they made on the road? Maybe the GPS told them to turn left and they instinctively followed those instructions without thinking, turning left through a red light. In a lot of cases, people are listening so intently to the directions – or simply looking at the instructions on the screen – that they will make driving errors.
In fact, the GPS itself may not necessarily be right. Maybe the maps haven’t been updated in a few years. A road that used to be a two-way street has been converted into a one-way road with two lanes. If a driver followed the instructions on the GPS, they could enter the road driving in the wrong direction. If they then cause a head-on crash, can they blame that GPS instead of themselves?
The responsibility still falls on the driver
First and foremost, it’s important to understand that drivers are still required to pay attention to traffic signs and to make proper decisions. Just because the GPS tells them to turn at a certain time or down a specific road does not mean they can do so blindly. If they follow those instructions, it is still the driver’s fault if they end up making a driving mistake.
Additionally, the most common way that a GPS causes an accident is simply that it is a distraction. A driver may be looking down at their phone to see where to turn when they rear-end a vehicle ahead of them. There’s far more danger from distraction than there is from the GPS giving a driver inaccurate instructions. But it would be the driver’s fault in both of those situations.
As such, if you’ve been injured by a driver and they’re blaming their GPS, they are likely still responsible for the costs that you’ve incurred. Be sure you know how to seek financial compensation.