Family sues Google because Maps led to father’s death

His name was Philip Paxson, a 47-year-old man and father of a family who was found by North Carolina police 60 miles northwest of Charlotte on September 30, 2022, after falling on a bridge that had been cut off for some time. 10 years. The family of the deceased filed a lawsuit. Google Mapsafter sending along this route.

The Hickory County native was returning home from his daughter’s ninth birthday before the accident, his mother-in-law wrote in a Facebook post. He added that neither the destroyed bridge nor the road leading to it had guardrails or warning signs warning drivers of the danger.

“It was a dark and rainy night and he followed his GPS, which led him along a concrete path to a bridge that flowed into the river,” the report said. “His family and friends will miss him dearly. This was a completely preventable accident. “We mourn his death.”

The Paxsons’ lawyers say several people tried to tell Google about the deteriorating bridge, including an email exchange between a Hickory resident who tried to use the “suggest edit” feature in 2020 to pressure the company to fix the problem. Google never responded to this proposal, lawyers say.

“Our girls ask how and why their father died, and I have no words for them to understand, because as an adult, I still cannot understand how those who were in charge of the GPS directions and the bridge, could act without regard to human interests.” life,” Alicia Paxson, Phillip Paxson’s wife, told The Associated Press.