Tesla is preparing to confront a jury regarding a deadly accident involving its autopilot system, with the trial commencing today in Miami. This could mark the initial legal ruling pertaining to the increasingly prevalent transportation technology. The firm, helmed by Elon Musk, has encountered numerous lawsuits related to its autopilot driver-assist system in recent years, all of which had been previously dismissed or settled. The most recent lawsuit is from the family of Naibel Benavides, who perished in an April 2019 accident involving a Tesla Model S with an allegedly faulty autopilot, along with her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, who suffered severe injuries. Benavides and Angulo were positioned outside an SUV when the Tesla, operated by George Brian McGee, struck them.
Tesla contends that the autopilot was not fully engaged during the incident, which transpired when McGee dropped his cellphone and reached for it, colliding with the parked SUV and nearby pedestrians. “The evidence unequivocally indicates that this crash was unrelated to Tesla’s Autopilot technology. Instead, akin to numerous unfortunate accidents since the advent of cellphones, this was the result of a distracted driver,” a Tesla representative informed the New York Times. McGee was allegedly traveling nearly 62 miles per hour in a 45 m.p.h. zone and accelerated before the collision, bypassing the autopilot’s cruise control.
The plaintiffs claim that Tesla’s attentiveness features and automatic emergency braking should have averted the accident. Footage from the vehicle’s computer reveals that the autopilot system detected the parked vehicle and at least one individual but did not engage its brakes or notify the driver. The plaintiffs’ legal team intends to interrogate Tesla Autopilot engineer David Shoemaker and two other employees.
Musk has asserted that Tesla’s autopilot features are secure for both drivers and pedestrians. However, specialists examining autonomous vehicle safety express reservations about the technology’s suitability for widespread deployment, pointing to problems such as unpredictable driving behavior. Furthermore, “robotaxi” firms Waymo and Zoox are under federal investigation, with the NHTSA looking into 22 reported incidents involving Waymo vehicles in 2024.
In June, Tesla sought to prevent the public release of vehicle crash data in a case with the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), arguing that it would jeopardize their competitive edge. Analysts have accused Tesla of obscuring and de-contextualizing safety information in its Autopilot Safety Report.