Google Maps Accused Of Giving Wrong Directions To Motorists

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in world news September 21, 2023

A US man drowned after driving his car off a collapsed bridge as he followed directions on his google maps. The man’s family said this happened because Google failed to update its maps.

Philip Paxson’s family is suing the company over his death alleging that google failed to indicate the bridge had fallen 9 years ago. Mr Paxson died about a year ago after he attempted to drive over the bridge in Hickory, North Carolina.

A spokesperson from Google said the company is in the process of reviewing these allegations. The family filed the case in civil court in Wake County on Tuesday.

At the time of his death, Mr Paxson, a father of two had been driving back home through an unfamiliar neighborhood.

He was returning home from his daughter’s birthday held at a friend’s house. His wife had earlier on driven the children home and he had stayed behind to help clean up.

“Unfamiliar with local roads, he 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 Tragically, as he drove cautiously in the darkness and rain, he unsuspectingly followed Google’s outdated directions to what his family later learned for nearly a decade was called the ‘Bridge to Nowhere,’ crashing into Snow Creek, where he drowned,” said a statement from the family lawyers.

The suit claims that locals in the area repeatedly contacted google to update their maps after the bridge collapsed in 2013.

Before this tragedy, there used to be barriers placed across the bridge to warn users. However, this time they were missing due to vandalism.

The lawsuit is also suing three local companies arguing they had a duty of maintaining the said bridge.

“Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words they can understand. This is 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 in a statement.

The spokesperson from google extended their deepest sympathies for the Paxson family.

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