Google Maps blamed for tragic death of father whose car plunged 20 feet off a bridge

Philip Paxson lived in North Carolina with his wife and two daughters. On 30 September 2022, the Paxson family celebrated one daughter’s camping-themed birthdayat a friend’s house. Paxson’s wife then drove the girls home while her husband helped to clear up after the party. He set off for home later but never made it.

Paxson died after accidentally driving off a damaged bridge in Hickory, North Carolina. After the cleanup, he set up Google Maps as he was going to be driving along roads he didn’t usually take and it was dark and rainy. He tried to drive along the bridge, unaware that it was damaged, and ended up nose-diving his car 20 feet downwards, into the creek below. He drowned that night.

Google is being sued by the family

Paxson’s family is claiming that Google Maps is responsible for his death as they failed to update their systems to indicate that the bridge was not safe to use. Indeed, it had fallen a whole nine years before the incident. According to the suit, Google Maps still showed the bridge as passable in April 2023, 7 months after the accident.

The family’s lawyers explained that Paxson ‘relied on Google Maps, expecting it would safely direct him home to his wife and daughters’:

Tragically, as he drove cautiously in the darkness and rain, he unsuspectingly followed Google's outdated directions to what his family later learned for nearly a decade was called the 'Bridge to Nowhere,' crashing into Snow Creek, where he drowned.

Google has expressed its ‘deepest sympathies’ and has said it is looking into the incident. The case was filed in civil court on Tuesday 19 September.

Read more:Man who died for 7 minutes reveals what he saw in the afterlife and how he escaped death

How the bridge led to Paxson’s death

Locals had repeatedly contacted Google to urge them to update their maps following the bridge’s collapse in 2013, the family’s lawyers claim. According to the Charlotte Observer, there were usually barriers across the entrance to stop vehicles from making the tragic mistake that Pawson did. However, they had been removed by vandals.

Paxson’s wife Alicia explained:

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.

Neighbours have reportedly taken matters into their own hands and placed concrete barriers where Paxson tragically accessed the bridge.

Paxson’s widow hopes to save others from losing a loved one through this lawsuit:

No one should ever lose a loved one this way, and we want to make sure our voices are heard.

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Sources used:

Charlotte Observer: Dad of 2 died after driving off collapsed bridge, family says. Now, Google being sued.

BBC: Google accused of directing motorist to drive off collapsed bridge