US family sues Google Maps after man dies driving off fallen bridge following directions

San Francisco: A family in the United States has sued Google Maps for negligence after a man belonging to the family died after following the app’s directions and drove his car off a collapsed bridge.

According to reports, in September last year, Philip Paxson drowned after his vehicle plunged off Snow Creek Bridge in Hickory, North Carolina that collapsed in 2013.

In the lawsuit filed against Google's parent company Alphabet, Paxson's wife Alicia alleged that Google Maps directed him through an “unfamiliar neighbourhood heading home from his daughter's ninth birthday party” and charged that the company was aware of the collapse but did not update its navigation system.

“Google ignored the concerned community voices telling them to change its map and directions. No one should ever lose a loved one this way, and we want to make sure our voices are heard,” she said.

It was reported that there were no barricades or warning signs present along the washed-out road where the Navy veteran’s body was discovered by state troopers “in an upside down and partially submerged truck”.

Paxson drove off an unguarded edge crashing 20 feet below, read the court filing states.

"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," Alicia said.

In the years leading up to Paxson's death, “Google Maps had been notified several times by people urging Google to update its route information,” the lawsuit read.

Meanwhile, a Google spokesperson said that the company has the deepest sympathies for the Paxson family, adding, “Our goal is to provide accurate routing information in Maps and we are reviewing this lawsuit”.

With inputs from IANS