A couple has recently taken Apple to court after their five-year-old daughter was reportedly killed in a car crash, where the driver responsible was reportedly using FaceTime on his iPhone.
According to the file, the accident happened on Christmas eve in 2014, when James and Bethany Modisette were driving on a highway in Texas with their two daughters Moriah and Isabella. Meanwhile, Garrett Wilhelm was driving behind the Modisettes, failed to stop his car, ramming into the family's vehicle at 105 km/h. Everyone but Moriah survived the crash.
Furthermore, Wilhelm reportedly told the police that he was indeed using FaceTime while he was on the road, and that the app was still running when the incident finally happened.
The issue at hand concerns Apple's patent filed back in 2008, which proposed to lock users out of the app while they are driving. It was later issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office in April 2014. However, it has not been integrated into the app up to this day.
With this in consideration, the Modisettes are now seeking damages from Apple for its "wrongful failure" to install and implement the feature which could possibly make driving safer. Wilhelm is now facing a jury trial regarding manslaughter charges, which is due this February.
Apple has not yet given out any official statement regarding the incident.
Back in April 2016, a similar car accident was recorded, this time involving the app Snapchat. A "speed filter" was used by one of the involved people while driving at 107 miles per hour, which caused her to ram right through another vehicle, causing brain injuries for the victim.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald | Image via Apple
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