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A California man is challenging Apple for failing to install an iPhone lock-out device that could protect highway users from distracted drivers.
Plaintiff Julio Ceja is taking defendant Apple Inc. to task for failing to equip iPhones with a “lock-out device” that would prevent motorists from texting while driving. Without such a device in place, he says Apple promotes distracted driving leading to widespread loss of life, limb and property.
According to Ceja, the practice of texting while driving is a problem of epidemic proportions, resulting in “massive carnage” on the road. He says the use of mobile phones by drivers accounts for 26 percent of all U.S. accidents, according to a report by the National Safety Counsel.
He also cites research by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that says drivers who text while driving take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds while sending or receiving a text.
“At 80 miles per hour that is the equivalent of driving 539 feet – or nearly two football fields – blindfolded,” according to this iPhone lock-out device class action lawsuit.
Furthermore, he claim the problem of texting while driving is so widespread as to put millions of persons on the road in danger. Based on statistics from the Department of Transportation, he estimates that 1.5 million drivers are texting at any given moment.
As a result of such widespread distracted driving, Ceja says, 16 Americans die every day at the hands of texting drivers.
Ceja says he was the victim of one such distracted driver. While stopped at a stoplight on a California highway, Ceja says he was rear-ended by a driver who was looking at her iPhone instead of paying attention to the road. The wreck caused damage to his vehicle and injury to Ceja’s back, he claims.
In this iPhone lock-out device class action lawsuit, Ceja puts defendant Apple on the spot for failing to address this problem, even though the company has a technological solution in hand.
In 2008, he says, Apple applied for a patent for an iPhone lock-out device that would disable the phone under certain conditions, such as when the user is simultaneously driving a car. The patent application was granted in 2014.
But despite having that technology available, Apple simply refuses to implement it in iPhones. As a result, iPhone users remain free to text while driving, putting millions of other drivers and passengers at risk, Ceja says.
Ceja is proposing to represent a Class of “all California residents whose safety has been put at risk” by Apple’s failure to install an iPhone lock-out device from the time Apple began selling iPhones through the present.
He seeks a court injunction that would stop Apple from selling iPhones in California unless and until they are equipped with an effective iPhone lock-out device. The proposed injunction would also require Apple to install such a device on all existing iPhones.
He also seeks reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees, and any other relief the court sees fit to grant.
Ceja is represented by attorneys Jonathan A. Michaels, Kathryn J. Harvey and Kristen R. Rodriguez of MLG Automotive Law APLC.
The Apple iPhone Lock-Out Device Class Action Lawsuit is Julio Ceja v. Apple Inc., Case No. BC647057, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.
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20 thoughts onApple Class Action Says iPhone Lock-Out Device Could Save Lives
Believe me the have the kick out as I am in NC and been kicked out twice! Might be California ? I have trouble getting new passcode and getting back on. I am locked out as I type this message . Not driving but at home ! I am am upset I can’t update my apps etc. They have more control than you think ! Help
Are you serious? Do you even know what this website and comment for him is? It’s not an Apple Support Center for people who forgot their passcodes SMH
Education and PSA’s (public service announcement) of high impact consequences of cell phone use need to be as frequent as the smoking cancer risks in the past. A recent example is of a woman who took a selfie while driving about a happy song she liked and less than one minute later died in a tragic crash according to police as she ran off the road. All these types of events need more public exposure.
How would such a lockout determine you are in fact the driver of the vehicle and not just a passenger? What would happen on buses?
Pete Sykes, let’s also sue breathalyzer manufacturers for causing equally dangerous distraction to drivers, putting themselves and others at risk comparable or equal to texing while driving or DUI.
While he’s at it, why not pursue all the other mobile phone manufacturers.
It doesn’t matter if Apple held the patent for a lock out feature. It wasn’t likely used because Apple must’ve found flaws that most likely was a bad idea. Tech companies files patents for many ideas they never institute. They often just sit on them until it can be well designed – they too are not without their flaws as we all know. This is why there are regular patch updates.
This lawsuit sounds like Mr. Ceja wants seek deeper pockets for financial compensation from someone beyond the driver who rear ended his vehicle that caused medical issues for his wife. This is why you have auto insurance. This lawsuit is also a good example why insurance companies raise their rates because of people like Mr. Ceja.
Next we will sue God for making mountains that don’t have safety nets underneath.
Texting and driving is, as the suit says, at ridiculous levels, and causing many deaths, injuries, and untold costs in property damages, costs of first responders, clean-up, and all the rest. Yet we treat it like a minor offense, like not quite stopping at a stop sign. It needs to be addressed like drunk driving – zero tolerance. Just once and you have big troubles, license suspended (drive anyway should be a mandatory month in the slammer), huge legal bills, black mark on your record. If someone is killed 15 years+ should be a given and there should be no exceptions. I’m not sure you could put the responsibility on the producer or seller of any given object, like alcohol, they are intended to be used in a safe, responsible way. No one phone maker is going to do install any blocking software alone, they would lose sales. But a law would be a good thing, it’s only going to force you to do what you should do w/o being forced.
My thoughts exactly, Pete Sykes!
This has to be one of the most frivolous lawsuits I have ever seen. The individual is responsible to be in control of their vehicle at all times. What will be next, a lawsuit against all auto manufactures because they don’t have a “lock-out” if you are drunk or tired? Individuals need to take the responsibility,
I have a iPhone 6 plus