Tesla agrees to $1 million settlement over a lawsuit related to a fatal crash in 2018. That crash resulted in the death of an Apple engineer. The tragic incident led this engineer’s Model X to run into a highway barrier while driving on Autopilot software. This case underscores continued fears over the safety of Tesla’s autonomous driving features.
The family of 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon, who died after being struck by a Tesla Model S while he was stopped at a T-intersection in the Florida Keys in 2019, have sued the company. As in this crash, that other pedestrian was injured with life-threatening injuries. In Florida, a jury found that Tesla was at least partially liable for this terrible occurrence. This case is the first instance Tesla’s Autopilot software went to trial before a jury.
Further facts of the Florida crash reveal that Mr. McGee, the Tesla operator, had dropped his phone as he was approaching the intersection. As a consequence, he became blind to the path ahead. It was the distraction that led him to run the stop sign to drive through the intersection. Instead, he crashed into an SUV parked on the other side as a result. Unfortunately, neither Mr. McGee nor the Autopilot system were able to brake in time to avoid this tragedy.
With the jury’s ruling in, Tesla is looking at a multi-billion financial blow. The court granted $329 million in damages. This is reflected by the fact that this amount contains $129 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages. In the end, these findings could cost Tesla dearly — up to $243 million.
Tesla always maintains that these crashes are not the result of an Autopilot failure. Rather, they blame the crashes on “driver error.” The company stated, “To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash.” They emphasized that “this was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers blaming the car when the driver – from day one – admitted and accepted responsibility.”
Most plaintiffs’ attorneys rebutted this story by arguing that Elon Musk and Tesla lied about the abilities of Autopilot. Brett Schreiber, representing the plaintiffs, asserted that “Tesla designed Autopilot only for controlled-access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk telling the world Autopilot drove better than humans.” He further criticized Tesla and Musk for “propping up the company’s valuation with self-driving hype at the expense of human lives.”
Schreiber stated, “Tesla’s lies turned our roads into test tracks for their fundamentally flawed technology.” He noted that the verdict could have serious unintended consequences for the safety of the entire automotive industry.
Tesla took issue with these allegations, asserting that today’s verdict is unjustified. “Today’s verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla’s and the entire industry’s efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology,” they contended.
Tesla is in a severe fight for its very reputation right now. Now, the company needs to turn that accountability focus on its controversial Autopilot system. The company has repeatedly defended its technology as it’s come under fire for its safety record.