If the road had just washed out you might have a point, but the bridge has been out for months; this car was not the first to discover it. The road is closed but it seems that in the months that the road has been closed and under repair either no barricades were put up to alert drivers to this fact or they were removed. Driving at night on a dark road it becomes difficult to tell the road is out until it’s too late. Even still, as close as the car is to the end of the bridge it looks like they tried to stop, but were too late.

The article seems to want to blame Google Maps while the family is blaming local authorities and the construction company. If Google was aware the road was out and still routed them over the bridge that would be a problem, but if no one bothered to put up a barricade I doubt anyone thought to notify Google. No one would reasonably blame a paper map for not being updated, and a digital map is only as good as the most recent update.

The driver is responsible to be alert to avoid dangers. If no warning to a danger is provided and the danger is not obvious, it’s hard to blame the driver.