Google Maps isn’t perfect. Roads can be closed, traffic can be diverted — there are a host of issues that mean that any navigation program is likely to be incorrect every once in a while. That’s why you can’t just blindly follow wherever it tells you to go, as the story of one North Carolina man proves.

According to the New York Times, Philip Paxson was driving home on a rainy night on unfamiliar roads. Accompanying his journey was Google Maps, which was guiding his route back from his daughter’s 9th birthday party.

The family of a North Carolina man is suing after their loved one died allegedly because of Google Maps. They say Phillip Paxson was following directions when it led him to an unmarked collapsed bridge GPS said was safe. Instead he fell to his death. We spoke to his widow: pic.twitter.com/eW4o9PQqNT

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) September 23, 2023

Soon, Google Maps allegedly told him to turn onto a bridge — failing to mention that the bridge has been out of service since 2013. Paxson followed the route, and soon, his car tumbled into the water, eventually causing him to drown.

While detractors may say that the man should have been more attentive, the lawsuit brings up a few points in his favor. First, it was rainy, meaning visibility was likely low. Second, the bridge itself wasn’t barricaded or marked — it was simply a massive gap in between other, functioning roads.

“This was a crater literally in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” Robert Zimmerman, a lawyer for the family, told the New York Times. “It’d be one thing if it was there for a day or a week, but it was there for nine years.” Additionally, the lawsuit claims that people had reported the issue to Google in the past, yet it still sent drivers over the no-longer-extant bridge, even a year after Paxson died trying to cross it.

As for why the road wasn’t fixed in the first place, “A spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Transportation said in an email on Thursday that ‘the section of road where this incident occurred is owned by a private entity’ and that the department ‘has no legal authority to make improvements to this location.’”

So next time you’re out on the roads and Google sends you on a suspicious right turn, think twice before proceeding — and be sure to check if the path you’re on actually exists.