The family of an American man who died after driving his car off a collapsed bridge while following Google Maps is suing the tech giant for negligence, claiming it had been informed of the collapse but failed to update its navigation system.

Philip Paxson, a medical device salesman and father of two, drowned on September 30, last year, after his Jeep Gladiator plunged into Snow Creek in Hickory, in North Carolina, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday (US time) in Wake County Superior Court.

“He was following his GPS, which led him down a concrete road to a bridge that dropped off into a river,” Paxson’s mother-in-law wrote on Facebook at the time.

“The bridge had been destroyed nine years ago and never repaired,” she said, adding it had no “barriers or warning signs to prevent the death of a 47-year-old father of two daughters”.

Paxson was driving home from the girls’ ninth birthday party through an unfamiliar neighbourhood when Google Maps allegedly directed him to cross the bridge.

“Our girls ask how and why their daddy died, and I’m at a loss for words they can understand because, as an adult, I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions and the bridge could have acted with so little regard for human life,” widow Alicia Paxson, said.

State troopers who found Paxton’s body in his overturned and partially submerged truck had said there were no barriers or warning signs along the washed-out roadway. He had driven off an unguarded edge and crashed about six metres below, according to the lawsuit.

The North Carolina State Patrol had said the bridge was not maintained by local or state officials, and the original developer’s company had dissolved. The lawsuit names several private property management companies that it claims are responsible for the bridge and the adjoining land.

Multiple people had notified Google Maps about the collapse in the years leading up to Paxson’s death and had urged the company to update its route information, according to the lawsuit.

The court filing includes email records from another Hickory resident who had used the map’s “suggest and edit” feature in September 2020 to alert the company that it was directing drivers over the collapsed bridge. A November 2020 email confirmation from Google confirms the company received her report and was reviewing the suggested change, but the lawsuit claims Google took no further actions.

Lawyer Robert Zimmerman said residents had asked for the bridge to be repaired or properly barricaded for years.

“Their demands went unanswered. We’ve discovered that Google Maps misdirected motorists like Mr Paxson onto this collapsed road for years, despite receiving complaints from the public demanding that Google fix its map and directions to mark the road as CLOSED,” he said.

““Philip’s widow Alicia is adamant we do everything possible to obtain justice and make sure something like this tragic nightmare cannot happen to another family.”

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the company had “the deepest sympathies” for Paxson’s family, and was reviewing the legal action.

– with AAP