Tesla Found Partly Liable in Fatal Autopilot Crash
A Florida jury ruled Tesla found partly liable in fatal Autopilot crash involving a Model S in 2019. The incident claimed the life of 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and seriously injured Dillon Angulo.
Plaintiffs argued Tesla’s Autopilot failed to alert or brake in time.
The driver, George McGee, was distracted while dropping his phone just before the crash.
Tesla denied blame, stating McGee was speeding and pressing the accelerator, which overrides Autopilot.
Still, the court awarded $329 million in total damages to the victims’ families.
Tesla to Pay $243 Million in Damages
Tesla is set to pay $200 million in punitive damages and $42.5 million in compensatory damages.
The company said the verdict was unfair and promised to appeal the decision.
Tesla claims no car in 2019 or today could have prevented the accident.
They accused the plaintiffs of twisting facts to blame the technology instead of the driver.
This marks the first jury verdict involving Tesla’s Autopilot system.
Previous similar cases were quietly settled out of court.
Safety Questions Loom Over Tesla’s Autopilot
Tesla found partly liable in fatal Autopilot crash, despite Elon Musk promoting the tech as safer than human driving.
Critics say Tesla misled users into overtrusting the software on roads not meant for autonomous driving.
At trial, McGee admitted he expected Autopilot to take over if he made a mistake.
He has since settled privately with the victims’ families.
Experts say this verdict is a wake-up call for the self-driving industry.
As Tesla faces declining sales, its self-driving promises are now under sharp legal and public scrutiny.
