Google Facing Lawsuit Over Alleged Negligence in Fatal Bridge Mishap Due to Maps

Google faces a lawsuit by the family of North Carolina man Philip Paxson, who died after driving off a collapsing bridge while following Google Maps instructions.

The family says that Google committed negligence, claiming that despite having previous information about the bridge's collapse, the firm did not update its guidance system.

On September 30, 2022, Philip Paxson, a loving father of two who worked as a salesperson for medical equipment, accidentally crashed and drowned into Snow Creek in Hickory, North Carolina, while driving his Jeep Gladiator. The complaint, filed on Tuesday in Wake County Superior Court, clarifies the details of his tragic demise.

Google Maps Allegedly Told Victim to Cross Fallen Bridge

Paxson was coming from his daughter's ninth birthday celebration when the tragic event happened. He allegedly followed Google Maps' instructions to cross a bridge that had fallen over 10 years before and had never been rebuilt.

The bereaved widow, Alicia Paxson, expressed her sorrow, as quoted in an AP News report, "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 such little regard for human life."

According to the complaint, there were no barricades or warning signs along the washed-out road when state police located Philip Paxson's overturned and half-submerged vehicle at the scene of the collision. Paxson's vehicle crashed around 20 feet below the bridge as a consequence of driving off an unprotected edge.

North Carolina State Patrol said that neither municipal nor state authorities were maintaining the bridge, and the original developer had liquidated his business. The complaint blames multiple private property management businesses for the bridge and adjacent land.

No Action From Google Despite Earlier Reports

Notably, many people had already informed Google Maps about the demolished bridge in the years before the tragedy that killed Paxson. To avoid similar accidents, they had pushed the tech juggernaut to update its route data. The reports included emails from a Hickory resident who informed Google about diverting motorists across the fallen bridge in September 2020 by using the "suggest and edit" function of Google Maps, as per a report published by ABC News.

Google acknowledged receiving the complaints in an email sent in November 2020 and said that it was being examined. However, the tech firm did not take further steps, according to the lawsuit.

Google, with headquarters in California but a registered office in Raleigh, has yet to comment on the legal action.

In another lawsuit, DirecTV, the NFL, and its teams are accused of limiting football game broadcasts. These plaintiffs have asked Google to provide information on its broadcast agreement with the NFL for the NFL Sunday Ticket, a package that Google subsidiary YouTube recently bought.

Forbes reported last month that NFL Sunday Ticket customers, who are the plaintiffs, are demanding $6 billion in damages, claiming that DirecTV and the NFL's actions unfairly increased market pricing for the Sunday Ticket package. The plaintiffs include residential and commercial NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers.