Here’s an article/video from a local news source that better explains what happened and who the lawsuit calls out as liable for the accident.
Seems there are possibly two entities that could be liable for the accident.
A. The developers…they did not turn over responsibility of roadwork to the NC DOT after the subdivision was completed, and had no road maintenance plan in place. This also means they would be responsible for marking the roadway that the bridge was out.
B. Google…they had multiple requests to change the map to indicate the bridge was out, and they didn’t update their maps. Even Mapquest and Apple Maps have their maps updated.
Thank you for the additional source. So, there wasn’t any signage, barriers, or lighting, AND it was dark and raining AND Google had multiple requests and 10 years to fix it AND other services have it properly marked. Maybe people should slow their roll and stop dismissing the case out of hand?
During Mr Paxson’s journey, the GPS put him on the unfamiliar path of the bridge, which had collapsed almost a decade earlier and was never repaired, the lawsuit said.
He drove off the unguarded edge and crashed about 20 feet below, the lawsuit said.
I don’t understand this at all. Were there no signs telling people that the bridge did not exist, or is the news report omitting some critical detail? If the bridge was like that for a decade, was he the only one to drive off it?
Also, when using navigation, you’re still supposed to be looking at the road and paying attention to what’s happening.
I don’t get how stuff like this happens.
EDIT: Looks like there were no signs that the bridge was out. This really isn’t a “Google problem”, but the municipality should be to blame (unless they did put up a sign that was removed by some lowlife).
EDIT 2: Looking at the accident photo, it appears that the driver would have had to drive through overgrowth to even access this collapsed bridge. This is looking more like inattentiveness than poor navigation. Still trying to find the actual location of the bridge, so I can see what images Google Street View can provide going back since the time of the collapse.
This would be a non-story if they had just sued the city for negligence. But everything is big tech’s fault nowadays.
It was private land, the story is a bit more nuanced than you may think. Someone posted a link to a local article that sheds a lot of light on the matter
https://maps.app.goo.gl/jmYi6euT36iMbMqq7
Think this is the bridge in question which appears fine on Google Street view.
I thought so! You can actually see that the most recent Street view (May, 2023) has barriers, but how can someone miss the gaping hole, even without signs? The driver would have still needed to drive through the overgrowth :/
This is what they would have seen as they approached the bridge:
Yes, barriers should have been put there, but being a low-speed residential area, the driver shouldn’t have missed it. Really strange story, especially putting blame on Google.
EDIT: Barriers were put there, but vandals destroyed them, and they had to be removed ahead of this accident. SOURCE
If he was driving at night in the rain I could imagine that looking like a big dark reflective puddle and not realizing it’s a gaping hole until you’re too close to stop.
September 30, 2022 in Hickory, NC it rained 5 inches. That is a shit load of rain. It doesn’t say when he was driving home, but from 5 PM to 7 PM, it rained 1.7 inches, the peak of the storm. Driving through a wooded, unlit area in a torrential downpour… I’d wager you’re right.
Article also says he drowned. In this little creek:
Yeah, it was raining hard.
This is the actual scene.
The overgrowth would have been visible ahead of the bridge, even in rain. I wonder if any dashcam was on board and if speed was also a factor.
He wasn’t found until the next morning, so that’s not a great indicator of what it would have looked like as he was driving. A few comments up is a picture showing the approach he came from is not nearly as overgrown, also.
A few comments up is a picture showing the approach he came from is not nearly as overgrown, also.
The photo showing the actual vehicle in the water clearly shows overgrowth from the day the accident happened. He would have to have driven through it.
It’s odd that he was found so late, TBH.
No doubt there were other factors at play, but you can’t blame Google for bad weather and poor road visibility, though.
The story here is that the city of Hickory had a responsibility to put barriers and signs up, which they did not. The family is likely going after Google because $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, but they have no case.
But shifting the blame wholly onto the driver is also not reasonable. People thinking “lol, Darwin” damned well know that driving at night in a dark, rural area, you’re still going to be driving a decent speed and you might not see something coming. There are classes of problems you have to expect, like wildlife or other vehicles… but there are also classes of things you should not have to worry about, like the map not being updated about a destroyed bridge after 10 years despite having been notified repeatedly.
The city of Hickory bears most of the blame, of course. But the fact that Google does not pay attention when users notify them about dangerous road conditions in their maps is a serious problem, and deserves some responsibility. They can’t say “we didn’t know” when they actively, aggressively choose not to listen.
But shifting the blame wholly onto the driver is also not reasonable.
Of course, safety measures should have been put in place. The problem is that the family seems to be putting blame on everyone else, and that’s also not reasonable.
The city of Hickory bears most of the blame, of course.
Yes, but…
“The barricades were removed after being vandalized and were missing at the time of Paxson’s wreck.” (source)
Really awful circumstances. If the vandals were caught, I’d have them face an involuntary manslaughter charge.
EDIT: Also, this particular bridge was on a private road that had no “ownership”. It actually was NOT the city’s responsibility and the developer of that road apparently dissolved… this just keeps getting worse and worse for the family.
But the fact that Google does not pay attention when users notify them about dangerous road conditions in their maps is a serious problem, and deserves some responsibility. They can’t say “we didn’t know” when they actively, aggressively choose not to listen.
Having mapped for Google for years, that’s just how it is. Missing roads, incorrect routes, addresses that don’t exist, closures that aren’t reflected on the map… all normal stuff for every digital mapping service.
The reality is, Google does not bear any responsibility for what happens during the use of the product. No navigation app/company does. It’s always in their TOS.
The very nature of maps is that they are ever-changing, and never 100% accurate.
Yes, McDonalds coffee is kept at far hotter temperatures then other resteraunts to extend the life of the coffee. Yes, they did know that it had already caused serious burns from spills.
Still, that woman should have known that coffee is hot and not asked for the cost of her medical bills to be paid by McDonalds when she required multiple skin graft surgeries to heal the third degree burns to her genial area. I mean, come on, how could McDonalds by liable for that?
I’m probably just old, but there’s more than one case of an Internet map telling folks to turn somewhere that there was no where to go because the maps aren’t updated. I also used to used the old fashioned paper maps before MapQuest and while those were usually fine, they also don’t help in cases of road closures or construction changes.
Whoever’s responsibile for the road itself (local municipality or state) should have had it blocked off.
the fact that Google does not pay attention when users notify them about dangerous road conditions in their maps is a serious problem,
Again, as someone who grew up using paper maps, this is such a bizarre statement. It’s cool that map companies offer things like speed trap warnings, but I frequently get warnings about stuff and there’s nothing there. You still can’t fully trust what the system is telling you. It’s just a tool.
“Image capture 2012” This is why it shows still intact. The bridge washed out after this street view was taken.
There’s also a big problem with North Carolina’s laws regarding the maintenance of roads. I’m not 100% sure this is the case, but I’d be willing to bet it is. Most other states require developers to get the road certified and adopted by the State Department of Transportation before any homes are sold. In NC, the developer can do this afterward (and they sometimes don’t do it at all). Our neighborhood association found this out the hard way. Over ten years after the first house was sold, we called the DOT for a road repair and were told that our road wasn’t covered. It was because of one form that wasn’t filled out and filed with the State. The crazy thing is that the road is considered a public road (you can’t treat it as private) and the state will not maintain it until you get it certified. If your road has degraded in that time, then you have to pay to get it back up to near-new quality before they will take it over.
Now imagine that instead of just a road to repair, it’s also a road and a bridge. Is the HOA going to be able to raise the money to pay for a bridge repair? Pay for a proper barrier? This type of basic infrastructure should be handled by the state government.
Side political rant- a bill to change these laws has been in committee for years. I don’t think it has ever made it to a vote.
An accident still could have occurred if someone wasn’t using Google maps. This is sad but IMO Google is the least to blame and the focus should be on the entities responsible for maintaining the bridge and road.
How would this person survive only a few years ago if they blindly trusted Google Maps completely and absolutely for their physical safety? Google Maps doesn’t turn your steering wheel or press your gas pedal.
I would usually agree but there was no barriers I am not sure about signage. While I think the driver should always be aware of where they are driving they honestly set him up for failure. On top of that Google had a decade to fix the route and didn’t.
If there was signage, that at a minimum would make it his fault.
Because they’re not blindly trusting Google maps, which is why Google is only one of those in the lawsuit and not the most culpable.
From now, i will ask google for every decision I make in my life that way I can sue them if they fuck up.
I hate these billionaire companies, but this aint it.
I live in the PNW and needed to go somewhere past a large mountain in winter. I.E. what roads were plowed and which weren’t mattered. I used google maps, and downloaded the route, cause no cell signal on the mountain.
I started off and it was fine. Used the appropriate highways and such. There is a transition between major highways I’d never used before that I wanted help with, but that was the only bit I was unfamiliar with.
Google ended up trying to get me to take a forest service road that starts off looking good. At this point I know not to listen to it, cause I did know this area and knew that that road, regardless of what it looked like at the entrance, was not safe.
I got out and walked about 100 feet and around a corner, and suddenly it’s 4 feet of snow. It all looked safe at the start. Remember, there is no cell signal and I could easily see getting stuck there and not being able to get help. It looked safe and google was telling me to do it. It feels easy to say, “hurr durr, the driver was stupid.” but that just sounds to me like “hurr durr, that woman with third degree burns should have known McDonalds coffee was as hot as plasma.”
“hurr durr, the driver was stupid.” but that just sounds to me like “hurr durr, that woman with third degree burns should have known McDonalds coffee was as hot as plasma.”
It doesn’t sound like that to me.
One is McDonald’s directly gave her a something that caused the damage.
The other is a guy decided to use maps and didn’t paid attention to where he was going.
“McDonalds was repeatly told that this was a problem” - Google was repeatedly told this bridge was out and to update the maps for OVER A DECADE
“McDonalds gave her something that was that caused the damage” - Google gave this guy the service of maps, with the implication that the maps were up to date, and the speed limit it says the road has is safe.
“If she didn’t spill the coffee she wouldn’t have been burned” - If it hadn’t rained a metric fuck-ton, and been at the dead of night, or the bridge had been properly signed, he wouldn’t have crashed.
You not being able to see the parallels is because you’re intentionally working to not see them. Or, you’re a paid shill. Or, you work for a tech company and Upton Sinclairs quote “it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” applies to you.
More “personal responsibility doesn’t exist, sue corporations cause I’m a dumbass” rhetoric.
Google maps is free, it has no SLA or accuracy requirements because you didn’t pay for it. If you’d paid then you’d have a case.
State troopers who found the father-of-two’s body in his truck said there were no barriers or warning signs near the bridge.
[…]
The lawsuit adds that Google had previously been notified about the collapse and several attempts had been made for the route information to be updated.
People should get their priorities right
Sounds like this family should get a nice fat payout from Google and also from the city.
I knew the second I opened the link it was gonna be this.
RIP Alan Tudyk
They should sue the makers of the steering wheel.
Did the steering wheel just fly off?
It flew off and landed on the desk of some ambulance chasing lawyer, as luck would have it.
eh… how many people drove off bridges before google maps was a thing though? if it happened at all they have no case.
If I were the headline writer it’d be “Dead Man Sues Map For Not Being Territory”
When I’m driving, I like to check there is a nice bit of asphalt ahead of me.
If I don’t see no road, I might press the brakes and take a moment to reflect on things.
This is doubly true in a bridge.
Sorry but Darwin applies here.
Feel free to correct me, but I’m reading “Darwin applies here” as “the guy was too dumb to live longer”, which I think would be pretty insensitive. Regardless, I don’t think it’s fair at all to invoke Darwin here.
This article paints a better picture of the driver’s perspective. It was late at night and rainy, so vision was obscured and allegedly “pitch black”. Furthermore I’d argue the average driver doesn’t have a reason to believe that Google Maps would direct them over a collapsed bridge, much less one that’d collapsed 10 years ago, so it’d be easier to say “Can’t see a damn thing, I’ll trust Maps”.
I obviously don’t know the guy at all, and the details above were taken from the lawsuit afaik so they can make any claim they want, but with so little other information I think it’s fair to paint this more as a tragedy than as “natural selection”, even if you don’t want to hold Google or any of the bridge property managers responsible.
Plus, the guy had a wife and 2 kids, and was driving home late from cleaning up from his daughter’s birthday party; I think he deserves a bit more respect than that.
“Cant see, trust the map and keep driving” is like an even dumber birdbox challenge.
You know something. If vision is poor. You are legally required to slow to the point you can safly stop within your visual range.
If for example its late at night. And some little old lady crossing the road falls and knocks herself out.
As a qualified driver you are responsible if you crush her head. Not h poor old lady. Sorry I could not see her on the road is not an acceptable excuse. If you cannot see whas in front of ou. Your inconvenience in no way outweighs your responsibility as a driver.
The average driver dose not in any way shape or form have a legal right to abdicate their responsibility to google.
If he was driving towards the bridge without the ability to see it was out. He was driving in a way that means any pedestrian was t risk from his actions.
I’m not talking about the level of responsibility he has as the driver of the vehicle, I’m talking about the degree to which it’s okay to mock him (post-mortem, I might add).
It sounds like you’d argue that Google Maps and the bridge managers should win this lawsuit (assuming this even goes to court) under ACDA laws. Maybe you’re right. But there’s a large gap between just saying that, and then also saying “this is natural selection taking its course”.
Say that about the dude that sticks his dick in an electrical socket, or the guy that shoots himself because a magic 8-ball affirmed that he was bullet-proof. Don’t say it about a guy who probably just drove a little too fast, with visibility a little too low, a little too confident that a GPS system wouldn’t guide him over a literal cliff.
As far as I’m concerned, this was a preventable tragedy, yes preventable by more cautious driving, but also by better GPS, or by barricades, or by so much as a visible warning sign.
They will win this lawsuit. Its happe ed multiple times whe folks drove into lakes etc. Was a common issue in the early days of GPS navigation. And is proove n again and again that navigation systems are not responsible for your inability to look where you are driving.
As for bridge repair. Well apparently this was a privrate road. But if not. Whike there is grounds to sue the authority for failing to do thier job. Seems very unlikely they can be held accountable for the inability of the driver to stop within his visual range. I have been licenced (before losing my vision) in both the US and UK. Passing test in both. As crap as the US test was. Stopping distances and the effect rain and visibility has was clearly mentioned i the question pool.
I can’t see a damn thing, I’ll trust Google Maps.
Unequivocally, Darwin .
Look, if the guy was doing 80 on a backroad in pitch black, you’d probably be right, fair?
If the guy was driving a little too fast, so maybe 15-20, and couldn’t imagine GPS would successfully guide him over an un-barricaded, warning sign-less cliff, I think he deserves a little more slack. If you disagree, then take the stand as a character witness in the trial, for all I care.
I fully agree. I also hate Google and will look for any reason to hate on them more, however in this context they aren’t at fault. You’re the one driving and operating the machine. The app is literally “guidance”. It didn’t order him to drive over the bridge 🤣
Google has been told about the bridge being out multiple times and have refused to do anything about it. If you’re so negligent that you keep routing people to a collapsed bridge on a private road, you deserve to be sued.
Nope. As much as I hate Google. You’re in charge of the car. You can’t blame an app for not paying attention to your surroundings.
You can’t blame a company in the GPS industry for directing people to drive over a collapsed bridge while they ignore multiple warnings that the bridge is out in the first place? It happened a decade ago, Google should have fixed it a decade ago.
Also it can be hard to see the surface of the road at a distance at night. By the time he saw the bridge was out, it was probably too late. There’s no lights around the bridge at all.
I’m not saying all of the blame is on Google though, that road should be blocked off/barricaded. However, all of this would’ve been avoided if Google Maps told him to take a right turn instead of a left. All they had to do was listen to the locals telling them that it’s impossible to cross the bridge for a decade. It’s negligence pure and simple and if it hadn’t happened to him, it would be someone else.
