Tesla ordered to pay millions over deadly Autopilot crash
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A Tesla vehicle at a Supercharger. Photo: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
A Florida jury ordered Tesla to pay millions in damages for a 2019 crash in Key Largo, Florida, that killed a woman and gravely injured her boyfriend.
Why it matters: It's the first time that Tesla has been held partially liable for the misuse of its Autopilot assisted-driving technology.
Between the lines: Tesla was ordered to pay a portion of $129 million in compensatory damages, as well as $200 million in punitive damages, to the family of 22-year-old Naibel Benavides.
- She and her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, were standing on the side of the road when a Tesla driven by George McGee plowed into them.
- After less than a day of deliberation, the eight-person jury ruled that Tesla's Autopilot technology was partially to blame by enabling McGee to momentarily take his eyes off the road and then failing to warn him the road was ending.
What they're saying: "Tesla designed Autopilot only for controlled access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere," Brett Schreiber of Singleton Schreiber, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement after the verdict.
- During the trial, he also argued that Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk overhyped Autopilot's capabilities, encouraging motorists to put too much trust in the system, in situations it couldn't handle.
- "Tesla knew for years that its product was defective," he added. "Despite that people were using autopilot irresponsibly. This was a case of systematic failure.".
The other side: "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," the company said in a statement, adding that it planned to appeal.
- During the trial, Tesla attorney Joel Smith laid the blame entirely on McGee for not paying attention to the road.
- "He said he was fishing for his phone," Smith said. "It's a fact. That happens in any car. That isolates the cause. The cause is he dropped his cellphone."
The big picture: The verdict is a blow to Tesla, which is betting its future on self-driving technology. It comes just weeks after the company launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas.
- In two previous trials in California, juries found Tesla not liable for defects in its technology.
- It has settled at least four similar cases involving Autopilot.
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, meanwhile, has been investigating several aspects of Tesla's automated-driving technology, including four crashes in which the camera-based system was blinded by dust or bright sunshine.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Tesla.
