14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is being sued by two parents whose daughter was killed in a car accident for not implementing limitations on its iPhones when being used behind the wheel.
Specifically, James and Bethany Modisette are blaming Apple for not restricting the use of iPhones when driving, claiming that this is one of the reasons a 20-year-old driver crashed their car on December 24, 2014 and killed their little girl.
In lawsuit documents that were published by AI, the parents explain that they were driving their car on the highway but slowed down because of the traffic, when another driver smashed into their vehicle because he was in the middle of a FaceTime call on his iPhone. The driver didn’t see the car in front braking, and the violent collision led to the death of the couple’s 5-year-old girl.
Apple patented tech in 2008
In the lawsuit, the two explain that Apple has already patented technology that would allow restricting the use of iPhones behind the wheel, but say that Apple never implemented it on its devices, which makes the existing generations “defective.” This is why Apple is considered partly guilty for the accident, and now the parents are seeking damages from the firm.
“Apple has had the technology to prevent these events, and the Modisette’s injuries specifically, since at least December 12, 2008, when it filed an application with the US Patent Office for a ‘driver handheld computing device lockout,’” the lawsuit states.
“Apple’s 2008 patent application reveals that Apple expressly knew and/or should have known of the risks to human life and safety associated with, and created by, the intended or reasonably foreseeable use and misuse of certain functions available on the iPhone.”
This is undoubtedly a long shot and what’s more important to note is that the parents do not try to convince Apple to implement this feature on its iPhones and prevent similar accidents in the future, but they want Cupertino to pay damages probably worth millions of dollars.