Family Sues Google Maps Over Fatal Accident

A family from North Carolina plans to sue the tech giant Google for negligence after a man died when his car fell from a collapsed bridge, which he was directed to by Google Maps. They claim the company had been informed of the bridge's collapse but failed to update its navigation system. Phillip Paxson, a sales representative and father of two daughters, drowned on September 30, 2022, after his vehicle plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory, according to a lawsuit filed by the family in Wake County Superior Court. Paxson was returning home from his daughter's ninth birthday party when Google Maps directed him to cross the bridge that had collapsed nine years prior and had not been repaired. His wife, Alicia Paxson, stated in a press release, "Our daughters are asking how and why their father died, and I don’t know how to answer them to help them understand, because as an adult, I still don’t know how to understand who is responsible for the disregard of GPS navigation directions for a human life." State police who found Paxson's body in his nearly submerged car reported that there were no barriers or warning signs along the flooded road.