IT Services21.09.2023

Lawsuit alleges that Google Maps guided man to his death

Google is facing a lawsuit from a North Carolina man’s family who claims that Google Maps directed him to drive off a collapsed bridge, resulting in his death, the law firm representing the family has said in a media statement.

The navigation app allegedly guided Philip Paxson, driving home from his daughter’s birthday on 30 September 2022, to drive his car across a bridge that had collapsed in 2013.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Paxson’s widow Alicia, and the family is being represented by Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky law firm.

“He was following his GPS which led him down a concrete road to a bridge that dropped off into a river,” his mother-in-law wrote on Facebook.

She added that, despite the bridge collapsing several years ago, it has no warning signs or barriers to prevent motorists from taking the route.

State troopers who responded to the scene found Paxson’s body in Snow Creek, roughly 20 feet (6 metres) below the bridge.

“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,” said Alicia Paxson.

The lawsuit claims that “directions from Google Maps misguided [Philip Paxson] to his death”.

 

Google has acknowledged the lawsuit and is currently reviewing the incident.

“We have the deepest sympathies for the Paxson family,” Gizmodo quoted Google spokesperson José Castañeda as saying.

“Our goal is to provide accurate routing information in Maps and we are reviewing this lawsuit.”

The lawsuit also names two other defendants Tarde, LLC, James Tarlton and Hinckley Gauvain, LLC — identified as the owners of the neglected bridge.

Paxson’s car in the creek


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