This Tuesday, September 19, 2023, the family of Philip Paxson, who died in September 2022, filed a complaint against Google. In particular, she accuses the company of leading the man to a collapsed bridge nine years ago and killing him in the process. Google, in turn, is currently investigating the complaint.
As the BBC reports, the American company is accused by Philip Paxson’s family of being behind his death in a car accident in 2022. What is in question: the Google Maps application, which would have led the man to his death through silence, would have told him that the bridge on his route had collapsed. The case was filed Tuesday, Sept. 19, in Wake County civil court.
“The Bridge to Nowhere”
When Philip Paxson returned from his daughter’s birthday party, not used to the local streets, he decided to use the famous mapping application to find his way around. “Unfamiliar with local roads, he relied on Google Maps, believing it would get him safely to his wife and daughters,” the family’s lawyers said in a statement.
The famous proposal then led him to his death. Unable to see his surroundings due to the darkness and rainy weather, Philip Paxson cluelessly followed his phone’s instructions to the collapsed Hickory Bridge in North Carolina, also known as the “Bridge to Nowhere.” He then rolled his vehicle into Snow Creek and drowned.
Collapsed for nine years
According to the Charlotte Observer, safety barriers were normally in place at the entrance to the bridge, but on this day they were missing. According to the family’s complaint, residents had contacted Google several times and asked them to change the directions in the app. The family is also suing three local companies for failing to maintain the bridge after it collapsed in 2013.
A company spokesman said the company was investigating the complaint.