The family of a North Carolina man is taking legal action against Google for negligence after he tragically lost his life following Google Maps directions. The lawsuit claims that Google had been informed about a collapsed bridge but failed to update its navigation system, leading the man to drive off the bridge and drown in Snow Creek, Hickory. The incident occurred on September 30, 2022, when Philip Paxson, a father of two and medical device salesman, was driving home from his daughter’s ninth birthday party in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Google Maps allegedly directed him to cross a bridge that had collapsed nine years ago and had never been repaired. The lawsuit was filed in Wake County Superior Court. The AP reports.
“Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words they can understand because, as an adult, I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions and the bridge could have acted with so little regard for human life,” expressed Alicia Paxson, his wife. State troopers discovered Paxson’s body in his overturned and partially submerged truck. There were no barriers or warning signs along the washed-out roadway. According to the lawsuit, he had driven off an unguarded edge and crashed about 20 feet below. The North Carolina State Patrol confirmed that the bridge was not being maintained by local or state officials and that the original developer’s company had dissolved.
The lawsuit targets several private property management companies that are alleged to be responsible for the bridge and the adjoining land. Multiple individuals had informed Google Maps about the collapsed bridge in the years leading up to Paxson’s tragic death and had urged the company to update its route information. The lawsuit includes email records from a Hickory resident who had used the map’s “suggest an edit” feature in September 2020 to alert the company about directing drivers over the collapsed bridge. An email from November 2020 confirmed that Google had received the report and was reviewing the suggested change. However, the lawsuit claims that the company took no further action.
(Read more Google Maps stories.)
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