Philip Paxson’s family is suing Google for negligence after the dad of two died after driving off a collapsed bridge as he followed directions given on Maps.
The family of a North Carolina man who died after driving off a collapsed bridge as he followed directions given on Google Maps is suing the tech giant for negligence, saying it failed to update its navigation system after the span washed away nine years prior.
Philip Paxson was driving home from his oldest daughter’s birthday party on Sept. 30, 2022, when his Jeep plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory, causing him to drown, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by his family.
The 47-year-old father of two was unfamiliar with the neighborhood he was driving through on a dark and stormy night and was directed by Google Maps across a bridge that collapsed nearly a decade earlier and was never repaired.
“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,” his wife, Alicia Paxson, said.
