GPS directed NC man to his death..over destroyed bridge on dark, rainy night. Barriers removed

[Demovictory9]

A North Carolina father of two died after he traveled over a bridge that was destroyed nearly a decade ago in an accident that his family called “an avoidable tragedy.”

Philip Paxson, 47, was driving home in Hickory, North Carolina, on Sept. 30 when he crossed over the bridge. Officials and emergency responders arrived at the scene at around 9:45 a.m. on Oct. 1 and found a 2020 Jeep Gladiator "upside down and partially submerged in a creek in an area where the roadway had washed out," according to a news release shared with TODAY by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.


Paxson was found dead inside the vehicle, and authorities believe the accident happened shortly after 11 p.m. on Sept. 30, according to the NCDPS.



Troopers told NBC affiliate WCNC that barriers warning drivers of the collapsed bridge ahead had apparently been moved.

Paxson's widow, Alicia Paxson, declined to immediately comment to TODAY, but wrote in a Facebook post that she wants to raise awareness for "what an avoidable tragedy this is.

https://www.today.com/today/amp/rcna51205S

[Girard442]

1. Following GPS uncritically is not smart, but GPS isn't the real bad guy here.

Same accident could have happened exactly the same way with a paper map or word-of-mouth directions,.

Who the f---- moved the barriers?

[Demovictory9]

3. Bridge been down for ten years...dept of public safety should have put permanent barriers

I picture flimsy sawhorse sign

[LeftInTX]

5. Yes, this should have had barriers. It could have happened to anyone at night.

People sometimes don't drive in an area for quite awhile, yet they know it like the "palm of their hand"...until something like this....

[Shermann]

2. I'd be curious to see how a full self-driving vehicle would handle this hazard nt

[Polybius]

7. They would know to stop at least 20-50 feet before the hazard

They can sense when they are approaching an empty space underneath the car. This technology is rapidly improving, and will get better as the years go by.

[LeftInTX]

4. My GPS lead me to a Social Security office when I was trying to find a residence

It kept saying, "You have arrived"

I was going nuts. I was on the street and the street dead ended after a block. GPS said make a U-turn and turn left. Then I ended up at the SS office. I spent 1/2 hour and finally gave up and decided to go another house not too far away.

It turns out that the Social Security Office was built between 2011 and 2014. A bunch of streets were closed off. My destination was actually close to the 2nd house I decided to go to. However, it was over a mile to drive. (It was on the other side of fence behind the SS Office)

[doc03]

8. Maybe it thought you should sign up for SS

[ColinC]

6. My GPS was showing me a route that visibly looked like a cliff. There was another car starting up

nearby so I waited to see where it goes. It went back the route I came, and not over the GPS directed route. I followed the other car...

[48656c6c6f20]

9. Wow

First off
https://www.today.com/video/father-dies-in-crash-after-gps-leads-him-to-bridge-to-nowhere-150151237514

So this was private property and what the hell? If a plane flies into the side of a mountain it's pilot error. Seems this is driver error.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

16. So the property owners will be responsible.

You can’t maintain a death-trap that looks like a road or drive - even on private property.

[EYESORE 9001]

10. I followed GPS to a road that became little more than a goat path

I eventually came out to a real road. That’s the stuff of nightmares - a bridge out.

[doc03]

11. My GPS told me to turn right onto a road that ran into a canal in Florida. There was a steel

cable blocking the road.

[mitch96]

13. All these GPS stories just reminded me of a incident on a stormy road in Utah years ago

We were riding out bikes heading to a town. It was a real gully washer of a storm and the GPS said to make a right... Right? it was a rickety old wooden bridge that went to a dirt muddy road. Well the GPS must be right, right?
We went really slow over the bridge and when we got over the bridge onto the muddy road the fricken gps said "make U turn".. Grrrrrrr I learned to not trust the GPS every time.
If it looks sketchy don't do it..
m

[SoCalDavidS]

12. Why The Fuck Weren't There Barriers Still In Place? nt

[ms liberty]

14. I was in Hiclory today for a haircut.

I live in a rural area about 15 miles n/ne of the city. I'll have to see if my husband recognizes any of this, he knows Hickory much better than I do.

[aquaman]

17. I live in downtown Hickory...

From the pictures, I have no idea where this occurred. I feel so badly for this family. Awful.

[Demovictory9]

18. Small world!!! Watch out for this bridge!

[TheBlackAdder]

15. If it was destroyed a decade ago, there should have been a more permant blockage.

.

Permanent guardrail or even a large dump truck load of sand.

I had a GPS on my 2010 Town & Country take be to the center of a town in Pennsylvania
and as we drove down the hill, it turned out to be the Schuylkill River in front of us. The
GPS showed a road straight across the river that never existed. The road formed a T
intersection at the river front, with just a guardrail stopping someone from going in.
It's probably not the best to have downgrade road demarcate at the edge of a river.


That picture looks just like one this year or last where a bridge collapsed onto a
stream & jogging path.

.

[Demovictory9]

19. ..or repair the damn bridge.

[TheBlackAdder]

21. Most normal states, with a proper tax structure do this. It seems to be a county failure.

.

Obviously, the people in that area don't matter as much as other areas in NC.

.

[Johnny2X2X]

20. There was an episode of the Office

Where Michael Scott drove into a lake listening to his GPS.

I don't get how a bridge wouldn't be barricaded if it was out.