Family of man who drove off collapsed bridge sues Google Maps for 'misguiding him to death'
Family of man who drove off collapsed bridge sues Google Maps for 'misguiding him to death'
The family of a man who drove off a collapsed bridge are suing Google for 'failing to update its navigation system'.
That's ridiculous, but I think the title makes it sound a lot more ridiculous than it actually is.
[the lawsuit] also named several private property management companies allegedly responsible for the bridge and adjoining land.
If he could just drive off a collapsed bridge without any warnings someone has clearly not taken their responsibility.
If there's a lack of signage and road blocks, and the map says the road is fine, I can see how one would make such an error.
I don't agree google maps should be held accountable here, but if this bridge has been collapsed for a decade, I can see why someone would want to at least pose the question.
Don't get tricked by big media the way they did with the McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit.
Google was notified for a decade that they had a dangerous route listed. Safety standards aren't made for people acting perfectly, they're made for having multiple layers of safety for things that can kill or maime you.
Yes, there is SOME level of personal responsibility, but if Google told 100,000 people to do something dangerous, it's inevitable that someone would have a combination of factors that caused someone to do it and die.
Google just claims over and over that it's too big and has too much data to be able to have any sort of customer service or maintenance, and this is the result.
Yes, other people are also responsible, but that's what the legal system is for, to look at evidence and not headlines and place blame. I wouldn't be surprised if Google settles out of court on this one and promises to fix their maps.
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.
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.
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.
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
RIP Alan Tudyk
Permanently Deleted
If I were the headline writer it'd be "Dead Man Sues Map For Not Being Territory"