I live in Park City, Utah. Have for 30 years. Walked every street. Now, we have a winter visitor who is suing Google over its map of walking instructions in Park City…that she got last winter. Seems like Google led her down Deer Valley Drive, which is Highway 224 and Google said it was the best walking route.

Well, it’s not.

Here’s the route.

Map

As mentioned before this is not the best route. Highway is busy. This lady, Lauren Rosenburg, was hit by a car, apparently while trying to get across Deer Valley Drive.  She was hit by Patrick Harwood. The lawsuit is Rosenburg verse Harwood…and Harwood and Google are both, apparently,  being sued for north of $100,000.

As you can see in this screen shot, Google clearly marks that this map is in beta and it may not have sidewalks. Take a look.

Google outlines in yellow that this is in Beta and please pay attention. “Maybe missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.”

So, does this warning appear on mobile devices. Yep. Appears on iPhone. The warning, “use caution” appears on the Blackberry.

Now, did the warning appear in the winter when Ms. Rosenburg called up the information? Well, I read a blog from Danny Sullivan on Search Engine Land and he said that when he tested the Google Maps it did not appear.Search Engine Land

Park City is a ski town. Sometimes in the winter you can’t get anywhere because of 3 feet of new snow. Can’t get your car out of the driveway. Can’t walk anywhere.

It’s totally great!

So, I feel sorry for Ms. Rosenburg that she got hit. Not good. And maybe the warning information was not on her mobile.  Don’t know.

However, as we all use new technology such maps on mobile devices we have to get better at reading what is displayed. Can’t just look for what you want. Have to look at the entire screen to see if there is information that is critical. Hiking in Southern Utah and looking at a Garmin and the GPS has a warning about slot canyons flooding this time of year. Gotta see that. Really important.

I suspect all of us, me included, get in a hurry and miss information in emails, on mobiles, on Skype, etc. etc.

As an example, I pushed the publish button on this blog too early, and then had to edit on the fly. What a bonehead.

What is important is that when we call up information from the web, we look, and read, and consider.

Missing a piece of information could be important. Very important.

And if its not there, well, that may be a different story. One that should be quickly rectified by the search engines.