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Local residents had repeatedly contacted Google to have them change their online maps after the bridge collapsed in 2013, the suit claims.
Barriers that were normally placed across the bridge entrance were missing due to vandalism, according to the Charlotte Observer.
The lawsuit is also suing three local companies, arguing they had a duty to maintain the bridge.
That’s a lot of fucking negligence.
Barriers that were normally placed across the bridge entrance were missing due to vandalism
vandalism? What were these “barriers”, a handful of orange cones? At minimum they should have put some concrete jersey barriers there.
I came here thinking it recently collapsed and Google Maps just never updated.
It collapsed a decade ago, and both Google Maps and local ~~maintainers~~ organizations (whoever maintains the roads) dropped the ball. You'd think someone would have built a wall blocking that road off by now
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Ah sorry, I meant people locally that maintain the roads/signs/barriers. I'll fix it to be more clear
I agree with your comment though
Google is not at fault here, not at all. If at all, Google is just responsible for a not fully up to date product, which could enrage consumers at worst. If that guy literally couldn't see the road he also was unable to stop for an animal or even human.
It's not Google's responsibility to drive responsible for their users; drivers need to do so safely with or without help from maps of any kind.
If the false information had caused an emergency vehicle to be misguided which led to the death of the patient I would agree that Google is at some fault.
Other than that, the companies responsible for caring about the bridge should be at fault here somewhat too, even though it's not their responsibility to - again - ensure a driver can stop in time at their current speed and the given weather conditions. Yet they should mark a road as dead end and block the road as done at eg. natural cliffs where roads are ending, with proper material, so blocks of concrete stopping even tanks.
It is not uncommon to go over 20 at night, even in the rain.
This accident could have easily happened without a GPS, because it is a very bad location and has no warnings, however without a GPS it is also unlikely he would have found himself in this area, and it did lead him directly to a road that it had been told was not passable. They do not have a large part of the liability, but they should have a responsibility to warn their users when people have told them about an extreme safety hazard for ten years.
After looking at the picture of the bridge in the article, it looks like it should have either been fixed or blocked by a large only moveable by heavy machinery barrier of some description.
What if someone was using a 15 year old paper map? Would they get to sue the cartographer?
What if the bridge had collapsed yesterday? Last week?
As much as I don't like Google, I don't think they're at fault here.
A 15 year old paper map doesn’t have the ability to immediately update itself. I don’t think anybody things Google is primarily at fault, that doesn’t mean it should be ignored that they were informed of the dangerous issue numerous times, have the ability to correct it and routinely do so, and ignored the issue in this location which contributed to this death.
I completely agree, they should sue the local municipality, whoever is responsible for that bridge.
It says that the residents had repeatedly requested that google update their maps to reflect that the bridge is gone. Not googles fault but they have ignored/missed multiple requests to update their maps so they hold some blame here when you consider that people rely on these types of navigation and google explicitly make google maps to provide help in navigation. I dont think theres nothing there.
It also says the lawsuit includes the suing of three local companies that should have been in charge of maintaining the bridge. So its not even just about google.
You'd think after nine years the city would do something about the bridge.
Probably should sue the city?
It’s a private bridge. And they are also suing the owners.
I wonder if the bridge owners aren't also preventing Google from updating the map.
I am not a guy who blindly trusts technology. Why go forward when you cannot see what's in front of you? How can that happen?
AFAIK Google makes a disclaimer about it. A bridge can also be destroyed on the same day, so...
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
From the picture I could easily imagine myself falling into the hole if it was dark and rainy.
I think more than one party can be at fault at the same time, but it also depends on the situation.
For example. Google maps kept taking rideshare drivers to the wrong entrance of my apartment complex. When I say "wrong," I mean "nonexistent." So multiple uber drivers were literally pulling over on the side of a busy street near a freeway on ramp with no bike lane or shoulder. They'd hit their flashers and stop in the middle of the road, blocking the on ramp lane. I'm in the actual parking lot, not tracking them in the app, so I don't know they're around the corner. I had two drivers just leave. Did they let me know they were going to cancel and drive away? Fuck no. The actual parking lot and driveway is only a few yards away. If they don't pass right by it, they can at least see the driveway. I mean, come on. Use your brain.
After the first time this happened, I tried to move the pin in the app, but it just kept sending drivers to the same place. I started texting them after they accepted the ride, but not all would see it. I contacted google and the pickup spot did change - to a back entrance on the opposite side of the complex that has no parking lot or place to stop unless you have a gate opener. For fuck's sake.
Anyway, it's both of their faults.
driving in the dark and rain is mad sketch. This is more than googles fault. Its also the city for not properly blocking it off. “Vandalism” is just a sorry excuse
There was a minor map glitch in my neighborhood that kept directing people to my house instead of my friend's house half a mile down the road, and it took me actual weeks of effort (persistent back and forth with them, repeatedly sending map screenshots and data from the county auditor, refusing to let my case get closed, etc) to get it corrected, which I had assumed was because it was a relatively small thing affecting a couple dozen people a year.
People fruitlessly asking them to fix a bridge out notice for 10 fucking years is horrifying.
I’m a local guide, they still routinely auto-reject mundane edits. I’ve added whole businesses, photos, hours, contact numbers and they reject them too. If I add them piecemeal they’re more likely to allow it. Their algorithm is awful.
This is tragic. Is the bridge also marked on Open Street Maps?
On OSM all it takes is one person to delete that bridge if it isn't there anymore. That is what is so great about wikis.
Doesn’t that also mean that ONE malicious person can get traffic off their local street or hurt a competitor’s business?
Just like moderating Lemmy, effectively policing user-generated content is a huge challenge.
It does, but if someone makes changes that actively degrade the map, they can be reverted and blocked from editing. There are monitoring tools available and in general things like that don't tend to happen, at least not in areas with an active good faith community.
It reminds me of the Office episode where Michaels GPS is like "take the next left" so he starts driving into a lake.
Google Maps literally directs me to drive off a bridge all the time. How do I get that fixed?
Local residents had repeatedly contacted Google to have them change their online maps after the bridge collapsed in 2013
You don't
This literally has nothing to do with Google. As shitty as Google is, it's entirely the city and the driver's fault.
Google is terrible and could have updated sooner, but not their responsibility.
I don’t see why residents did not construct a makeshift barricade themselves after years of inaction.
Based on the picture in the article, maybe just look at where you're driving for once. If you can't see far enough slow down.
Tho it's definitely the street maintainers responsibility to put up enough warnings/barriers
So apparently the barriers were missing "due to vandalism" and it was raining heavily the night this happened.
I am a bit terrified of this. Sometimes when I'm driving at night I realize, to assume the road doesn't end right over the next hill is to put full faith in the state. You have to trust your government to am extreme to go 70 mph over a hill you can't see past. Some people in some places don't have that luxury, and it won't be like that forever anywhere.
I've had so many nightmares where this happens.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The family of a US man who drowned after driving off a collapsed bridge are claiming that he died because Google failed to update its maps.
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, 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.
"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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