Family suing Google in crash that killed Hickory father

HICKORY, N.C. (WBTV) - A lawsuit has been filed against Google for allegedly leading a Hickory husband and a father of two daughters over a collapsed bridge.

Philip Paxson, 47, died nearly one year ago in Hickory. His Jeep plunged off 24th Street Place Northeast and into a creek that was several feet deep.

Related: Community calling for change after Jeep plunges into creek, killing Hickory man

The road had been closed since 2013 after part of it collapsed. When the crash happened, it was dark and raining and there were no barricades. North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers said they were removed after someone vandalized them.

Attorneys for Paxson’s family said he was using Google Maps to help him get home from his daughter’s birthday party.

They claim Google knowingly led Paxson down the collapsed road despite being notified about it several times.

“Those large global companies that profit from their users need to be held accountable when inaccurate information they provide is relied upon by their users with deadly consequences,” attorney Robert Zimmerman said.

“I still don’t have the answers to tell my daughters. I don’t have the answers to the question ‘Why is daddy gone? Why isn’t he coming back?’ I don’t know how to explain this life-shattering tragedy that could have been so easily prevented,” Alicia Paxson said.

Several defendants the attorneys claim are responsible for the maintenance of the private road are also named in the lawsuit.

Attorneys claim the road never got fixed because the developers never turned it over to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

They also claim appropriate maintenance agreements were never set up. The lawsuit seeks money and punitive damages.

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