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Lawyers for 11 Pennsylvania residents injured in 2013 when their charter bus slammed into an overpass in Boston, Mass., are suing GPS device manufacturers TomTom and Garmin, seeking more than $15 million in damages.
The bus driver was using both a Garmin and a TomTom satnav, neither of which were intended for use by commercial vehicles, but the lawsuit filed in January claims that the GPS units were at fault for not providing road height restrictions.
The bus driver, Samuel J. Jackson, told police he drove the 11-foot-high bus onto Soldiers Field Road, which is off-limits to vehicles more than 10 feet high, because he was “following the GPS.” At least one sign warning of this restriction was missing or damaged, and construction on the Harvard Street overpass obstructed other warning signs, the suit said.
Passengers were injured when the bus roof crushed backwards in the crash dropping the luggage rack and television onto the heads of the passengers, the Boston Globe reports.
Both TomTom and Garmin manufacture GPS units for professional drivers which feature information on bridge underpass height restrictions.
Dechenne Cecil
So many people drive large trucks and RVs, and tow tall trailers – why not have the height info on ALL GPS units? It would increase cost a little, sure, but I’d pay for it, rather than damage something I could possibly tow or drive in future.
Terrance Mish
How many times are we going to hear of someone doing something stupid and blaming it on GPS ?