Family sues Apple over FaceTime collision death

HOUSTON: An American couple is suing Apple, claiming that the tech giant’s FaceTime video chat app distracted a driver who rammed his vehicle into their car, killing their 5-year-old daughter.

James and Bethany Modisette were driving on the highway in Texas with their two daughters in 2014 when they were forced to stop their Camry ahead of a blockage caused by police activity.

Driving behind them, Garrett Wilhelm failed to stop and his SUV slammed into the car at 105km/h, tearing it apart and riding up over the top. Bethany and the older daughter, Isabella, were injured but managed to escape the car, while James and the younger daughter, Moriah, had to be extracted by rescue workers. Moriah, who was strapped into a booster seat at the time of the crash, was flown to a nearby hospital but died.

The lawsuit filed by the Texas couple in California Superior Court in Santa Clara County claims that Apple failed “to warn users that the product was likely to be dangerous when used or misused” or to instruct on its safe usage.

They are suing Apple for damages on the basis that the company failed to install and implement a “safer, alternative design” for FaceTime that would have helped to prevent a driver from using the app while travelling at highway speed, ABC News reported.