Fatal accident occurs as man driving off collapsed bridge following Google Maps, family files lawsuit

The family of a man who died after driving off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps are suing the tech giant for negligence.

They claim that Google knew the bridge had been washed out for five years but did not update their navigation system.

Philip Paxson, a medical device salesman and father of two, drowned in September last year when his Jeep Gladiator fell into Snow Creek in Hickory, North Carolina, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.

He was driving home from his daughter’s ninth birthday party through an unfamiliar area when Google Maps allegedly told him to cross the collapsed bridge.

“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,” his wife, Alicia Paxson, said.

Police who discovered Paxton’s body in his flipped and partly submerged truck said there were no signs or barriers along the damaged road.

He had driven off an unprotected edge and crashed about 20 feet below, according to the lawsuit.

The North Carolina State Patrol had said the bridge was not maintained by local or state officials, and the original developer’s company had dissolved.

The lawsuit also names several private property management companies that it says are responsible for the bridge and the surrounding land. It alleges that Google Maps had received multiple notifications about the collapse in the years before Paxson’s death and had been urged to update its route information, but failed to do so.

The court filing includes email records from another Hickory resident who had used the map’s “suggest an edit” feature in September 2020 to warn the company that it was directing drivers over the collapsed bridge.

ALSO READ| ‘She was pretty nasty’: Donald Trump blasts Megyn Kelly days after she questioned him about classified documents

A November 2020 email confirmation from Google confirms the company received her report and was reviewing the suggested change, but the lawsuit claims Google took no further action.

“We have the deepest sympathies for the Paxson family,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda quoted to The Associated Press.

“Our goal is to provide accurate routing information in Maps and we are reviewing this lawsuit.”

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.