A man was killed last week when directions from his GPS sent him on a deadly route.
Phil Paxson, 47, of Hickory, NC, programmed his GPS as he left his daughter’s birthday party on a dark and rainy night Sept. 30th night. The directions led him down a concrete road to a bridge that had been washed away in 2013 and was never repaired or replaced. There were no warning signs or barriers preventing vehicles from proceeding to the area where the bridge previously stood. The barricades are believed to have been washed away.
On Saturday morning October 1st, The North Carolina State Highway Patrol responded to a call of a vehicle in a creek. Emergency responders arriving at the scene found a 2020 Jeep Gladiator flipped over and submerged in the creek. Police retrieved Paxson’s body from the vehicle.
Paxson’s widow, Alicia, has used her Facebook page to share her anger and to question why nothing has been done to repair that area. She’s shared pictures from as far back as 2014 from local families that urge public officials to do something about the bridge. She calls her husband’s death “an avoidable tragedy’ and goes on to say that “this was a known hazard. 2014! Just an accident waiting to happen. Phil had to lose his life to bring awareness.”
A spokesperson for the highway patrol shared that barricades to prevent drivers from crossing used to be in place but appeared to be moved. WCNC reports that officials have been unsuccessful since 2013 at securing local or federal funding to repair the roadway and bridge. US Congressman Patrick McHenry told the media that he tried to get funding from FEMA in 2013 and 2016 but because the bridge is located on a private road it doesn’t qualify for funding.
The NC DOT told WCNC that it can’t make any improvements to the bridge because it is a “private roadway.” According to Eric Andrews, the President of Realtors Land Institute Carolinas Chapter, “Local residents can petition for the state’s transportation department to take over maintenance of the road — or they may have to take responsibility for the road themselves if they want it fixed.
Paxson leaves behind his wife Alicia and two daughters.
