RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: Alicia Paxon, the wife of Philip Paxson, who died on September 30, 2022, after falling off a broken bridge in North Carolina due to an alleged Google Maps error, has sued the tech giant for negligence.
Alicia reportedly said that the American multinational technology company was told of the collapse of the bridge but did not update its web mapping platform, per Independent.
Google sued for negligence in Philip Paxson's death
Philip Paxson, who allegedly followed directions from Google Maps, died after crashing into a creek below a destroyed bridge.
State police reportedly discovered Alicia Paxon's husband, a medical device salesman and father of two, drowned in his overturned pickup truck on September 30, 2022, beneath a bridge that had collapsed years before.
According to the family, Google failed to update its guidance system despite being aware of the bridge's five-year-old erosion.
Philip Paxson's wife Alicia is heartbroken
The heartbroken wife Alicia said in a news release, "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."
What did state troopers say?
According to state troopers who discovered Paxson's body, there were no barriers or warning signs along the washed-out road.
According to the claim, the man had veered off an open edge and crashed around 20 feet below.
Who is in charge of maintaining the bridge?
The original developer's company had dissolved, according to the North Carolina State Patrol, and neither local nor state authorities were responsible for maintaining the bridge.
The complaint lists many private property management firms as defendants, alleging that they are in charge of maintaining the bridge and the nearby area.
Did people notify Google Maps about the collapse?
According to the lawsuit, numerous people had alerted Google Maps about the collapse in the years before Paxson's death and had pushed the firm to update its route data.
A second Hickory resident used the map's "suggest and edit" function in September 2020 to inform the firm that it was sending traffic across the collapsed bridge, according to email records included in the legal complaint on Tuesday.
Google acknowledged receiving her complaint and examining the requested adjustment in an email sent in November 2020, but the lawsuit asserts that no further action was taken, per Independent.
Paxson had trusted Google Maps "like so many motorists," according to lawyer Larry Bendesky, a member of the family's legal team. "His trust in Google Maps, and the failure of the road and bridge-keepers to do their jobs, cost him his life," he stated, per ABC.
Google rep Jose Castañeda told The Associated Press, "We have the deepest sympathies for the Paxson family. Our goal is to provide accurate routing information in Maps and we are reviewing this lawsuit."
