If you were to talk on the phone while you drive and you get into an accident, whose fault would it be? The logical answer would be you, the driver, because you know that you’re not supposed to be talking and driving at the same time, and that’s pretty much what Apple is insisting as they recently appeared in the Los Angeles Superior Court last Thursday.
The company appeared in court to defend themselves against claims that they might be to blame for driving accidents while using the iPhone. This is in response to a class-action lawsuit brought about by Julio Ceja who accused Apple of placing profit ahead of consumer safety by not implementing a mechanism that would lock out drivers and/or disable the iPhone while in the car to prevent it from being used.
Prior to this, Ceja claims to have been in a vehicular accident where the driver of a vehicle hit his because the other driver was texting on their iPhone. This is actually not the first time that Apple has been accused of this, although in the previous cases the company has prevailed, where the judge in a previous case claimed that it is the driver’s decision to operate their vehicle negligently, and gave an example of how driving home drunk and getting into an accident is no more the fault of the company who sold the alcohol.