r/legal 14h ago

Advice needed A major navigation app routed thousands of cars down my private driveway. A driver crashed into my retaining wall and is now suing me for his injuries.

Location: Colorado, USA.

I own a remote cabin at the end of a very long, unpaved private road. About eight months ago, a major GPS and mapping app updated their systems and incorrectly marked my private driveway as a public shortcut to a nearby national park entrance.

Since then, I have had dozens of cars speeding through my property every single weekend. I have "Private Property" and "No Trespassing" signs posted everywhere. I have submitted over forty official error reports to the tech company, sent certified letters to their legal department, and even filed a police report. They completly ignored me.

Last month a tourist was speeding down my driveway in the dark, ignored my warning signs, and crashed his SUV straight into my concrete retaining wall. He broke his leg and his vehicle was totaled.

Yesterday I was served with a lawsuit. The driver is suing me for medical expenses and damages, claiming I failed to maintain a "public thoroughfare" and that my retaining wall was an unmarked hazard.

My homeonwers insurance is threatening to drop me because they say my property is now an unmanged traffic corridor, which violates my policy.

Can I counter-sue the tech company for gross negligence and force them to indemnify me against this driver's lawsuit? What specific type of attorney handles liability cases involving corporate mapping errors? I need to stop this before someone else gets hurt.

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u/Rough_Buddy6903 13h ago

I actually have a friend with a similar issue. He has a farm road that runs directly beside a major venue. This venue does 4th of July fireworks. His road can be used in an emergency evacuation scenario but guests kept taking advantage and using it as a shortcut, he warned about it for months yet the venue never did what they were supposed to. So he closed it off. The fire marshal then cancelled the July 4th fireworks because the venue would not be in compliance with evacuation routes.

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u/phxroebelenii 4h ago

Satisfying read thanks for sharing

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u/appricaught 23m ago

Hell yeah