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Google accused of directing motorist to drive off collapsed bridge (www.bbc.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Voyager@psychedelia.ink to c/technology@lemmy.ml

78 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Philip Paxson's family are suing the company over his death, alleging that Google negligently failed to show the bridge had fallen nine years earlier.

Mr Paxson died in September 2022 after attempting to drive over the damaged bridge in Hickory, North Carolina.

A spokesperson for Google said the company was reviewing the allegations.

The case was filed in civil court in Wake County on Tuesday.

Mr Paxson, a father of two, was driving home from his daughter's ninth birthday party at a friend's house and was in an unfamiliar neighbourhood at the time of his death, according to the family's lawsuit.

His wife had driven his two daughters home earlier, and he 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," lawyers for the family said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

"Tragically, as he drove cautiously in the darkness and rain, he unsuspectingly followed Google's outdated directions to what his family later learned for nearly a decade was called the 'Bridge to Nowhere,' crashing into Snow Creek, where he drowned."

Local residents had repeatedly contacted Google to have them change their online maps after the bridge collapsed in 2013, the suit claims.

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[–] owf@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Let's get this straight.

Google publishes maps that are inaccurate. They were informed of the inaccuracies multiple times, yet did nothing. Subsequently, someone died following their incorrect maps that they couldn't be bothered to fix — despite the fact that a fucked bridge is clearly potentially super dangerous.

And you think this has "literally nothing" to do with Google?

Are you a shareholder or something? That's some hardcore corporate arse-kissing, imo.

[–] mojo@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Lol I think the driver with fucking eyeballs should see they're driving off of a bridge. The maps on Google is literally irrelevant. Not once does your comment suggest they're somehow a conscious human being that has eyes and should be looking where they drive.

The driver is responsible for their safety, they're the one's controlling the vehicle. GPS navigation is a suggestion on where to go, not the final verdict which you for some reason think it is. Did you think the driver just saw the road, put his hands up and think, "Well shit, Maps says to drive off this cliff, I guess I have to!"

[–] mojo@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

Maps don't have to be right for you to know that maybe you should actually look forward when you're driving, but apparently expecting basic ass human autonomy is being a corporate share holder, what a joke. The driver is responsible for their safety, they're the one's controlling the vehicle. GPS navigation is a suggestion on where to go, not the final verdict which you for some reason think it is.