Lawsuit: Google Maps sent couple into robbery hotspot in South Africa

The Zoladzes, from Los Angeles, claim in their lawsuit that the Nyanga neighbourhood that Google Maps directed them into was known locally for years as the site of ‘numerous’ violent attacks on tourists by armed criminals. — AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Despite warnings to Google from US and South African officials that Google Maps was regularly sending tourists on a route where violent thieves lay in wait to ambush them, the tech giant failed to take action, and a California couple were brutally attacked, a new lawsuit against the Mountain View company claims.

On an October morning last year, Jason and Katharine Zoladz were using Google Maps to navigate from their Airbnb in a coastal Cape Town suburb to Cape Town International Airport, where they were to swap their rented car for an SUV for a trip to a Kalahari Desert wildlife preserve, according to their lawsuit filed Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court.