Post by JoannaL on Oct 8, 2022 19:25:22 GMT -5
Don't Trust GPS on Dark Country Roads
“It was a dark and rainy night and he was following his GPS, which led him down a concrete road to a bridge that dropped off into a river,” Linda McPhee Koenig wrote of her son-in-law’s tragic accident “The bridge had been destroyed years ago and never repaired. 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. We are grieving his death.”
Philip Paxson had attended a birthday party for his 9-year-old daughter and stayed behind to help with the cleanup. He left around 11 p.m. and was following his GPS directions when the road, known as 24th Street Place, N.E., in Catawba County, North Carolina, simply ended and his Jeep dropped into a 20-foot ravine on the night of September 30.
“This was a preventable accident, the bridge he went over at night had a gaping hole and their were no barricades,” a GoFundMe page created by the Paxon family states. What isn’t mentioned is that the road he was traveling is private and neither the state nor county is in charge of maintaining the road or bridge crossing Snow Creek.
According to Paxson’s obituary, which indicates the deceased “had a lifelong affection for muscle cars, motorcycles, dirt bikes, boats, really anything with a motor,” he “traveled the world with his father-in-law riding motorcycles. He and his wife along with their two daughters enjoyed camping and boating with family and friends. Phil put his family first and his friends, almost equal, second. He was larger than life, always ready for an adventure, with a permanent smile on his face, he would give you the shirt off his back or talk you out of the one on yours.”
Now, Paxson’s family is trying to bring attention to the tragedy they believe could have been avoided with proper maintenance or even signs and barricades warning drivers not to approach the area. According to reports, there had been barricades warning drivers of the danger but like the bridge before them, they, too, had washed away.
Sources: Audrey Conklin, Fox News, October 8, 2022; and WCNC, October 3, 2022.