The family of a man from North Carolina is suing Google for negligence after a tragical death happen when a vehicle crashed into a creek under a collapsed bridge, reportedly due to directions from Google Maps.
On September 30, 2022, Philip Paxson was found drowned in his overturned pickup truck beneath a bridge that had collapsed nearly a decade earlier.
Paxson, aged 47 and from Hickory, North Carolina, was returning home from his daughter’s ninth birthday celebration before the accident.
According to his mother-in-law’s Facebook post, there were no barriers or warning signs on the road leading to the destroyed bridge to alert drivers of the danger.
An unmarked, collapsed bridge in Hickory, N.C.
The lawsuit filed by the Paxson family also includes private property management companies responsible for the land where the crash occurred and surrounding areas.
Google, in response, expressed sympathy for the Paxson family and stated their commitment to providing accurate routing information in Google Maps.
They are currently reviewing the lawsuit. Lawyers representing the Paxson family allege that several individuals had previously attempted to notify Google about the washed-out bridge.
They have provided email correspondence from a Hickory resident who used the “suggest an edit” feature in 2020 to bring the issue to Google’s attention, but the Google allegedly never responded to the suggestion.
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