A family is mourning the death of a 47-year-old father who drove off a bridge after being erroneously guided by his GPS.
On the evening of 29 September, Phil Paxson had been driving home from his daughter’s ninth birthday in Hickory, North Carolina, when he lost his life, his mother-in-law Linda McPhoee Koeing said in a recent Facebook post.
She said Paxson had been using a GPS to guide himself through dark and rainy weather, when he was sent down a bridge that “dropped off into a river.”
The bridge, as WSOCTV reported on Monday, had been washed away in a storm several years ago and was not repaired because it was neither maintained by the state of North Carolina or the city of Hickory.
The North Carolina State Highway Patrol was also reported as saying that there were no barriers in place warning drivers about the sudden drop because vandals had removed the previous signs.
Paxson’s family have described his death as “avoidable” given the precautions they say could have been taken by local officials, with Ms Koeing writing on Facebook: “It lacked any barriers or warning signs to prevent the death of a 47 year old father of two daughters.”
“He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. It was a totally preventable accident,” she added. “We are grieving his death.”
Paxson’s wife, Alicia Paxson, told WSCOTV earlier this week: “Seems like minimal action could have saved his life. Nobody wanted to take responsibility. I don’t understand how over nine years this could be like this”.
Troopers told the station following the tragedy that Paxon’s vehicle, a 2020 Jeep Gladiator, was found at about 9.45am the morning after he drove off the bridge at 11pm.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation has been asked to place barriers on the bridge to warn drivers of the sudden drop in future, the local news station reported.
“Somebody should have put up some kind of barrier or barricades in this area. The developer, this is private property. It is not state maintained,” said Highway Patrol Sgt Brian Black to WSCOTV.
While it was unclear who was responsible for the bridge, Paxson’s family have organised a GoFundMe to support funeral and other costs.
