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While many people hate Elon Musk, including many people who own his cars, if you are driving it will surely see a Tesla on the road. People like electric vehicles and Tesla offers features that intrigue people. One of those is the Autopilot system.
On the Tesla website it says: Autopilot is an advanced driver assistance system that helps enhance safety and convenience behind the wheel. When used properly, Autopilot reduces your overall workload as a driver. With Autopilot, Tesla owners can see a direct impact in reducing traffic collisions.
What do you think when you read that? To me it implies that you can rely on the technology they offer to help you drive the car. It might function like cruise control, but because it’s marketed as cutting edge technology, I believe it changes the way people perceive how it works.
A recent case out of Miami put Tesla’s technology and its accountability under a microscope. A federal jury found Tesla partially responsible for a horrible 2019 crash in Key Largo, Florida, and ordered the company to pay $249 million in damages. It’s a humongous verdict and could have a major ripple effect on how future cases are handled.
The Crash That Led to the Lawsuit
The case centered on a tragic accident that killed a 22-year-old woman and severely injured her boyfriend. The couple had parked their Chevy Tahoe on the side of a rural road to look at the stars when a Tesla Model S slammed into them at 62 miles per hour.The driver admitted he was distracted, having dropped his phone moments before the crash. But he was also using Tesla’s Autopilot, which he believed would help keep the car safe while he briefly looked away. Instead, the vehicle blew through a stop sign, flashing lights, and a T-intersection before hitting the parked car with devastating force. The female victim was thrown 75 feet into the woods, and the boyfriend was left with broken bones and a traumatic brain injury.
Tesla Found Partly at Fault For The Crash
Even though the driver admitted his own negligence, the jury found that Tesla bore significant responsibility for the crash because of how its Autopilot system operates and how it’s marketed. The jury awarded $49 million in compensatory damages (compensate victims for their losses and injuries) and $200 million in punitive damages (intended to punish the defendant and deter others from similar actions).
The huge $249 million award sends a strong message, and that is that technology companies can’t shift all the blame onto drivers if the systems they sell are prone to failure or being misused.
One of the key points raised during the trial was that Tesla failed to limit Autopilot us on smaller roads it wasn’t designed for. Another problem was Tesla’s behavior during litigation. The plaintiffs accused the company of hiding or losing key data and video from the crash. Tesla denied having the evidence, until a data expert hired by the plaintiffs uncovered it. Only then did Tesla admit it had made a “mistake,” claiming it didn’t know the data was there.
In his closing arguments, the family’s lawyer pointed out that while other carmakers use terms like “driver assist,” Tesla’s use of the word “Autopilot” misleads drivers into placing more trust in the technology than they should.
What This Case Means for Others Injured in Tesla Crashes
If you were injured in a crash involving a Tesla using Autopilot, whether you were in the Tesla, in another car, or a pedestrian, you may have grounds for a lawsuit. This verdict shows that even if a driver was partially at fault, Tesla can still be held liable for the design, marketing, and operation of its self-driving technology.
These cases are complex. They involve not just auto accident law, but also product liability, data forensics, and understanding how these high-tech systems work. That’s why it’s critical to work with a lawyer who has experience with both car crashes and tech-related litigation. The reality is that only a handful of law firms have a real track record in going beyond just the car accident part of the case. Having the wrong firm could literally lower the value of the case by tens of millions of dollars.
Tesla reportedly has improved it’s technology since 2019, but I still think the marketing is an issue for them. There is also the issue of the Tesla full self driving vehicles. I fully expect there to be injuries and deaths from that technology and other lawsuits to follow. Musk has a long history of promising big things that are going to happen and it creates, in my opinion, a perception that some of these things exist when they do not. It is not beyond the realm of imagination that a Tesla driver would state that they thought the technology in the vehicle could do more than it can because they heard Musk say something once.
We can connect you with attorneys who understand how to handle these complex and high-stakes cases and who have a track record of success against major corporations. Contact us at 800-517-1614 any time to speak with an attorney for free.
