The family of a man who tragically lost his life after his car plunged off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps’ directions is taking legal action against the tech giant, citing negligence.
According to the family, Google was notified of the bridge’s collapse in Hickory, North Carolina, but allegedly failed to update its navigation system.
In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, September 19, it is revealed that Philip Paxson, a medical device salesman and father of two, drowned on September 30, 2022, when his Jeep Gladiator veered into a creek. Paxson had been returning home from his daughter’s 9th birthday celebration in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Google Maps purportedly guided him across a bridge that had collapsed nine years earlier and had never been repaired.
Alicia Paxson, his wife, expressed her grief, stating, “Our daughters inquire about how and why their daddy passed away. I struggle to find words they can comprehend because, as an adult, I am still unable to grasp how those responsible for GPS directions and the bridge could have shown such little regard for human life.”
The lawsuit contends that police officers who found Paxton’s body in his overturned and partially submerged truck noted the absence of barriers or warning signs along the deteriorated roadway. Paxson had driven off an unguarded edge, crashing about 20 feet below.
The North Carolina State Patrol clarified that the bridge was not under the maintenance of local or state authorities, and the original developer’s company had dissolved. The lawsuit identifies several private property management companies as accountable for the bridge and the adjoining land.
The legal action asserts that multiple individuals had alerted Google Maps to the bridge’s collapse in the years preceding Paxson’s tragic accident, urging the company to update its route information.
Included in the court filing are email records from another Hickory resident who used the map’s ‘suggest an edit’ feature in September 2020 to report the collapsed bridge. Although Google confirmed receipt of her report in November 2020, the lawsuit claims that the company took no further action.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda expressed condolences for the Paxson family and stated, “Our primary objective is to provide precise routing information in Maps, and we are currently reviewing this lawsuit.”
