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Family sues Google after Maps allegedly directed father off collapsed bridge (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml
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Tech company faces negligence lawsuit after Philip Paxson died from driving off a North Carolina bridge destroyed years ago

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[–] 33 points 3 years ago* (27 children)

Did you read the article?

neither the destroyed bridge nor the road leading to it had any barriers or warning signs to alert drivers of the hazard.

It was also raining and at night, so he likely had no way to know the bridge was gone until it would have been too late to stop.

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  • [–] 52 points 3 years ago* (16 children)

    Doesn’t sound like google’s fault, does it?

    The article even mentions that other entities are sued but oh that sweet headline.

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  • [–] [S] 21 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    Yeah, suing google makes as much sense as suing the car maker for not making the car fly.

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  • [–] -4 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    No??? It's perfectly reasonable to sue Google here, considering locals had been asking the company to update the map for nigh on ten years. It's negligence on their part at that point. When it's dark and raining, you can and should expect that your GPS won't lead you across a bridge that collapsed last decade.

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  • [–] [S] 14 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I would agree if the purpose of GPS navigation was to allow you to drive with all your windows covered. It's not. When you're driving and can't see what's in front of you (because you're blinded by something, because there's fog, because it raining hard or because Batman is throwing smoke bombs) you have to slow down appropriately or stop entirely if necessary. I can understand following GPS indications and getting stuck in some mud but not falling of a bridge. If you don't see the rode in front of you: stop.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago

    The expectation of safety should be on the local authorities. Clearly marking that the bridge is unsafe to drive over with signs and blocking off the area. While google should have marked it as an inaccessible route, it's the local authorities that should be looking out for the safety of drivers in that situation.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago* (10 children)

    The bridge was broken years though, so Google should not have been using it for routes. The country is definitely at fault for not having signs up, but Google isn’t blameless in this.

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  • [+] -6 points 3 years ago (9 children)

    The company literally directed this man to his death. Why are all these commenters going to bat for a trillion dollar company that refused to pay a programmer for the ten seconds it would take to fix thee issue?

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  • [–] 10 points 3 years ago*

    I once approached a red light and the satnav commanded me to "go straight". I almost did so, because a robot voice told me to do it. Would it have been the map's fault because it didn't know the traffic light was red? No, it would've been me, because I didn't pay **enough ** attention for a moment, following a command blindly. Drivers have to be aware of their surroundings all the time.

    Here in this case there should have been a road block and hazard signs in front of it.

    This all reminds me of the case where some people sued a weather app because it didn't warn them of bad weather and they completely relied on a single source of information.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago* (3 children)

    Because following a GPS blindly is stupidity...yes in this case it has been out 10 years.. but what if it was out 10minutes or what if it was some other hazard in the road or some road workers fixing somthing... you should be paying attention to the road and signs....now I agree signs should have been there. But just because the satnav says okay doesn't mean driver can just blindly follow, you are a dangerous driver not aware of your surroundings and in wet conditions going too fast for the distance you can safely see.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    If it had only been out for ten minutes, then there would have been no way for Google to update the map. You realize the whole issue is that they've been contacted about it multiple times over around a decade right?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    That is not the point when we say it could have been out 10 min....the point is there are all sorts of unmapped obstacles in the road so saying driving off a bridge is a maps fault is showing poor driving skills.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    It is simply not the responsibility of google to prevent this tragedy. It is firstly the responsibility of every driver to make sure to be able to see where you are driving and be able to stop in time in case of unexpected. What if there was a person in his path and he could not stop in time for example?

    And secondly it is the responsibility of the local authority/agency to put up signage and block the road.

    Sure, i am not a fan of giant megacorps either, and it makes sense to be angry at google for not correcting the wrong map data. But strictly from a responsibility perspective, i don't think google should be held accountable here.

    I also believe the thinking "directed this man to death" is too extreme. It simply is a map, with route information. There is no automatic driving or compulsion to follow its direction, the driver has to make safe decisions by himself imo.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago*

    What if there was a person in his path and he could not stop in time for example?

    Then that would be on him, because google did not receive multiple reports of a person in the middle of the road for ten goddamn years, and it's easier to spot a person in the middle of the road than it is to spot this

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  • [–] 33 points 3 years ago* (6 children)

    So sue the county or who ever is in charge of erecting the barriers. Still not the map's fault.

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  • [+] -7 points 3 years ago* (5 children)

    The bridge broke down years ago. Google is absolutely also at fault for sending someone down it, along with whoever didn’t have warnings up. Multiple entities can be at fault here.

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  • [–] 10 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    There has never been a guarantee for a map to be absolutely precise and correct. Just because maps today are digital and get updated automatically - or are even something like "live" - does not mean that there can't be any inaccuracies.

    And that's the reason one never relies on a map alone, but uses it as a guide.

    I've seen road signs that were simply wrong. Always use a combination of informational input and always be aware of possible flaws.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (2 children)

    Thing is, as the article points out, people had contacted Google trying to get this fixed.

    There was more than one failure here. That’s why the family is suing more than one entity.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago

    Given that there weren't any signs or barriers, it sounds like the local authorities are the ones at fault here. It could even be that that didn't file the proper paperwork to indicate that it collapsed. Google gets it's information from some database and if their sources aren't accurately reporting data as they should, google wouldn't have any way of knowing that the bridge collapsed. Ultimately, hazards like this should be clearly blocked off. Google doesn't have the power to do that.

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  • [–] 19 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    If you can't stop within the range of visibility, you're driving faster than road conditions allow. That part is on the driver. The lack of barriers or warnings is on the municipality.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago*

    Yes so this is the on the authority that owns the road if people have been telling Google about it surely the municipal or state or whoever maintains the road was informed and should have made effort to block it off or mark the road as private or whatever. If it is a private road you are still liable if it appears to be access to your property (say for delivery drivers to your mailbox)

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