On Friday, September 30, Phil Paxson, 47, was supposed to drive home from his daughter’s ninth birthday party in Hickory, North Carolina, USA, but he never got that far.
The following morning, the state police traffic patrol found the 47-year-old dead in a car accident lying on a roof in a river. Paxson leaves behind his wife and two daughters.
Now Paxson’s family believe the accident could have been easily avoided, according to others People.
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Tracked GPS
On Tuesday, Oct.4, the 47-year-old’s mother-in-law Linda McPhoee Koeing shared a post on Facebookwhere he explained parts of the sequence of events on the night of the accident.
He insinuates that Paxson’s GPS had taken the 47-year-old to a bridge that hadn’t been operational for nine years.
– It was a dark and rainy evening, and he followed the GPS which led him along a paved road to a broken bridge. The bridge was destroyed nine years ago but never repaired, writes McPhoee Koeing.
FATHER OF TWO: Phil Paxson leaves behind his wife Alicia and two daughters. Photo: Gofundme
sea View
He also claims that there was no warning whatsoever that the bridge was broken, no signs or barricades.
– An expected disaster
After the accident, Paxson’s wife, Alicia Paxson, shared several photos of the accident bridge alone Facebook sideas well as articles on the dangerous bridge dating back to 2014.
– This was a known danger. 2014 !! An expected disaster. Phil had to lose his life to create awareness about it, he writes as a comment on one of the articles.
According to the local TV online newspaper News about the queen’s city if the bridge had been taken by masses of water in 2013.
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– Someone is responsible
North Carolina state police report that both the barriers and signs were originally placed on the destroyed bridge, but these must have been removed.
“How did nine years go by without anything happening to the bridge, and why did it have to be him?” Why do my children have to live without a father? Who is responsible? Someone is responsible, says the widow, according to the channel.
According to Queen City News, police say it is not the responsibility of the state or local government to control the bridge. At the same time, the secretary of state claims on his website that the company that built the bridge no longer exists.
Work with lawsuits
Local TV WSOC-TV interviewed the family’s attorney, Bob Zimmerman. He informs them that they are working on a potential manslaughter lawsuit and that they are in contact with real estate experts to determine who is responsible for the bridge.
Zimmerman also assumes that Paxson used a GPS app to navigate and confirms that several apps still create driving routes across the broken bridge. This was despite the fact that local residents had sent notices to several companies about the matter.
– People in the local community warned that there was a danger that needed to be rectified in 2020 and 2021, but nothing has been done, Zimmerman tells the TV station.
This started with a “pimple”
New barriers
According to WSOC-TV, the divers are working to find the cell phone after the accident. Paxson’s family wants GPS companies to stop sending road users to the bridge until it is fixed again.
Local police have now asked the North Carolina Department of Transportation to create new barriers. According to police officer Brian Black, he was originally the owner of the bridge who was supposed to do it.
– Someone should have set up some form of barricade in this area. The owner of the bridge, as it is privately owned. This area is not managed by the state, he says.
