A Los Angeles couple is suing Google Maps for negligence after the app directed them into a notoriously dangerous area of Cape Town, South Africa, where they were violently attacked and robbed at gunpoint last year.
The Daily Express U.S. reports that Jason and Katharine Zoladz filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging that Google Maps led them into the Nyanga neighborhood of Cape Town while they were driving to the airport to return their rental car. The couple claims the app directed them onto the “Hell Run,” a stretch of congested highway where armed gangs routinely target tourists in rental cars.
According to the lawsuit, locals and officials have warned Google about the attacks in Nyanga and attempted to get the company to stop routing people through the area. But it was too late for the Zoladzes, who were set upon by gunmen after Google Maps led them into the neighborhood last October.
The assailants surrounded the couple’s car, smashed the driver’s side window, and pulled Jason and Katharine from the vehicle. The men then fired several gunshots, brutally beat Jason, and made off with the couple’s cash, credit cards, and cell phones.
Jason was left unconscious with severe facial injuries that required reconstructive surgery and left him with four metal plates in his jaw. He continues to suffer from pain, numbness, and mobility issues.
File/The Google Maps app is seen on a smartphone. On Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, the family of a North Carolina man who died after driving his car off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps directions filed a lawsuit against the technology giant for negligence, claiming it had been informed of the collapse but failed to update its navigation system. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)
The Zoladzes say the attack could have been prevented if Google had heeded warnings about the deadly risks of sending tourists through Nyanga. Officials and residents had been petitioning the company to reroute directions for years prior to the incident, according to the lawsuit.
Cape Town authorities finally succeeded in getting Google to stop directing people through Nyanga last November – three weeks after the attack on the Zoladzes.
The couple alleges that Google was negligent in continuing to send unsuspecting tourists into a area dubbed “hell” by locals. Their lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for the physical and emotional trauma they suffered.
This is not the first case of Google Maps directing tourists into danger in Cape Town. Last year, an American man was shot in the face after following the app’s suggested route through Nyanga shortly after landing in South Africa.
Read more at The Daily Express U.S. here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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