Family sues Google after Maps reportedly steered man returning from his daughter’s birthday down a bridge that had collapsed

This tragic incidence brings attention to a larger problem of fatalities that may be related to GPS navigation.

September 21, 2023 Samson Ayodeji

A guy from North Carolina sadly lost his life after he plunged from a bridge that had crumbled into a creek below, and his family is now suing Google for carelessness. According to the Associated Press, Google Maps’ incorrect directions may have contributed to the accident.

State police found Philip Paxson on September 30, 2022, drowned in his flipped-over pickup truck beneath a bridge that had collapsed over ten years ago. Before the disaster, Philip Paxson, a 47-year-old native of Hickory, North Carolina, some 60 miles northwest of Charlotte, was heading home after his daughter’s ninth birthday party.

His mother-in-law wrote on Facebook that neither the collapsed bridge nor the road leading to it had any barricades or warning signs alerting motorists to the possible risk.

According to the Facebook post, “He was following his GPS, which had sent him down a concrete road to a bridge that plummeted off into a river, on a dark and rainy night. His kin and friends will miss him terribly. The accident was entirely avoidable. We are mourning his passing.

In addition to naming Google as a defendant, the Paxson family’s complaint also cites a number of private property management firms in charge of the region around the crash site and the land itself.

A firm representative responded by saying, “We have the sincerest sympathy for the Paxson family. We are examining this case because it is important to us to offer correct routing information in Maps.

More information regarding the Google negligence lawsuit

The Paxons’ legal counsel claims that numerous people have made an effort to alert Google about the washed-out bridge. In an effort to get the corporation to fix the problem, they have shared email correspondence from a Hickory resident who used the “suggest an edit” tool in 2020. The company allegedly never responded to the suggestion, according to the lawyers.

The wife of Philip Paxson, Alicia Paxson, stated in a statement, “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 such little regard for human life.”

This tragic incident brings attention to a larger problem of fatalities that may be related to GPS navigation.

In 2020, a Google Maps route via Serbia’s perilous “road of bones” resulted in the death of an 18-year-old Russian driver. According to the Straits Times, a truck driver in Jakarta, Indonesia, relied on a Maps route meant solely for motorcyclists and drove down a cliff as a result.

Zohra Hussain, 51, was killed in a catastrophic vehicle accident in Indiana in 2015 after her husband, who was following the built-in GPS in their Nissan Sentra, drove off an unmarked toll road leading to a bridge that had been destroyed. According to the Chicago Tribune, her husband, Iftikhar Hussain, filed a lawsuit against the state of Indiana over the absence of barricades.

A pedestrian who had been struck by a car on a Park City road in 2010 also brought a claim against the internet giant for providing dangerous directions in its Maps product. Lauren Rosenberg, a pedestrian who was struck by a car while attempting to cross a busy state highway at night without pavement, filed a claim for $100,000 in damages.

Questions about the precision of the instructions that Maps gives users have been raised as a result of these and numerous other factors. Recently, the firm switched out petrol stations on its Map feature for electric vehicle charging stations, providing a practical option for individuals in need of an immediate power boost.

Author

Samson Ayodeji

I am literally obsessed with technology. I love writing about the latest news in technology in different markets, segments and sectors across the world.

View all posts

Author

For consumers in Africa, Google launches a generative AI experience on Search

Google will start deleting inactive accounts after two years

Google Maps swaps fuel stations with charging points for electric vehicle drivers