Fatal Tesla Autopilot crash triggers $345 million lawsuit and safety questions

[midian182]

In brief: Tesla could pay damages of $345 million in a personal injury trial over a fatal Autopilot crash that happened in 2019. Lawyers for the plaintiffs claim that Elon Musk and Tesla made false statements to customers, shareholders, and the public about the safety capabilities of Autopilot, thereby increasing drivers' reliance on the system.

On April 25, 2019, 42-year-old George McGee was driving a Tesla Model S south on County Road 905 toward Card Sound Road in Key Largo, Florida, with Autopilot engaged. Distracted after dropping his phone, the car drove through a flashing-red light and stop sign at the T-intersection at roughly 60 – 70 mph, never braking. McGee later said that he believed Enhanced Autopilot would brake if an obstacle was in the way.

The Tesla slammed into an empty Chevrolet Tahoe that was pulled onto the shoulder so its occupants, 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and her boyfriend Dillon Angulo, could stargaze. The impact spun the SUV, killing Benavides instantly and causing catastrophic injuries to Angulo.

CNBC reports that Angulo is asking the court for compensation for his medical expenses and pain and suffering, while Benavides' estate is suing for wrongful death, pain and suffering, and punitive damages.

On Thursday, plaintiffs asked the jury to award damages of around $345 million, including $109 million in compensatory damages and $236 million in punitive damages.

The plaintiff's lawyers claim Autopilot was defectively designed, lacked geofencing that would have ensured the mode was limited to safer roads, and was marketed in a way that encouraged over-reliance. Tesla's defense team says the driver's behavior was to blame for the incident.

McGee was charged in October 2019 with careless driving and didn't contest the charges. The Benavides family had previously sued McGee and settled with him.

Tesla drives itself (no human input at all) thru urban streets to highway to streets, then finds a parking spot https://t.co/V2T7KGMPBo

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2016

Musk and Tesla have been making questionable Autopilot promises that were cited in court cases for years. There was the famous demo from 2016 that showed a Model X stopping at junctions and obeying traffic lights. It was later revealed that the demo was staged: it was pre-mapped, obstacles were removed and – off-camera – the car hit a fence. The video was cited in a wrongful-death suit in 2023.

Musk has also long promised level-5 autonomy in Teslas, that drivers could go to sleep and the car would drive themselves (by 2020), New York-to-L.A. autonomous driving with no driver interaction required, and more.

In 2024, a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) linked Tesla's Autopilot systems to nearly 1,000 crashes from the last few years, over two dozen of them fatal.

Tesla usually settles Autopilot suits or moves them to arbitration, but the judge said in early July that this case could move ahead to trial.

"A reasonable jury could find that Tesla acted in reckless disregard of human life for the sake of developing their product and maximizing profit," she wrote in the order.

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Fatal Tesla Autopilot crash triggers $345 million lawsuit and safety questions

 

[Neatfeatguy]

So....

Driver does what causes a lot of accidents, got distracted and did not keep control of the vehicle and then blames it on the manufacturer instead of taking responsibility - no matter how horrific or minor it is.

Typical retard.

 

[sreams]

The article is not well researched and never mentions FSD, yet refers to it by description and seems to assume that it and Autopilot are the same thing. No version of Autopilot stops at stoplights, nor has it ever claimed to.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

What is left out here is that autopilot has always been DISABLED by default and before you can enable it, you have to acknowledge that you are responsible for any accidents, that it’s not a perfect system, and that you must be ready to take over at any time. It even says that the system wasn’t designed for use where there was cross traffic (ie. this situation). Then every single time you activate Autopilot later, it gives you another notice reminding you to be ready to take over at any given time. And finally, Autopilot has always had a monitoring system, forcing you to keep your hands on the steering wheel and stay engaged. The driver must’ve known about all this.

This video shows the state of Autopilot notices in 2019:

 

[Rudyduu]

So....

Driver does what causes a lot of accidents, got distracted and did not keep control of the vehicle and then blames it on the manufacturer instead of taking responsibility - no matter how horrific or minor it is.

Typical retard.

The driver had "autopilot" activated. If you have to pay attention at all times what does "autopilot" actually do? Calling it "autopilot" and bragging about its capabilities is what this is all about. No one should be defending a company that has been implying capabilities their cars don't actually possess. People believing what they company has been implying isn't solely on the customer.

The article is not well researched and never mentions FSD, yet refers to it by description and seems to assume that it and Autopilot are the same thing. No version of Autopilot stops at stoplights, nor has it ever claimed to.

What research did you do? Tesla stopped calling their semi-autonomous driving suite autopilot in 2024 this lawsuit is about a crash that happened in 2019 which was 5 years before Tesla started calling it FSD (which it isn't).
The article clearly stated: "There was the famous demo from 2016 that showed a Model X stopping at junctions and obeying traffic lights." The article never said the driver assumed it would stop at the light: "McGee later said that he believed Enhanced Autopilot would brake if an obstacle was in the way." Such as a parked car.

 

[Rudyduu]

What is left out here is that autopilot has always been DISABLED by default and before you can enable it, you have to acknowledge that you are responsible for any accidents, that it’s not a perfect system, and that you must be ready to take over at any time. It even says that the system wasn’t designed for use where there was cross traffic (ie. this situation). Then every single time you activate Autopilot later, it gives you another notice reminding you to be ready to take over at any given time. And finally, Autopilot has always had a monitoring system, forcing you to keep your hands on the steering wheel and stay engaged. The driver must’ve known about all this.

This video shows the state of Autopilot notices in 2019:

What's the point of a driver aid that promises to drive for you if you have to pay attention to the entire time? Tesla's marketing did not match these warnings. Tesla call their driver assistance aid "autopilot" when it should have been called something else and they never should have marketed it in such a way were people would have thought it had capabilities it didn't have. Again, what is the point of having a driver aid called "autopilot" where Tesla advertises it like it's full self driving when it's not? They shouldn't be allowed to make outrageous claims just because they put a disclaimer on activation.

 

[Dr Roboto]

Two things can be true at the same time. Tesla marketing is a bold face lie created to sell more cars at the expense of true safety. The driver was an ***** and going 70 mph on a road with stop lights/signs and just assuming the car can handle any road/condition (not just a highway) is absolutely unacceptable. Failure of both parties does not make one party right.

 

[SRB]

The driver had "autopilot" activated. If you have to pay attention at all times what does "autopilot" actually do? Calling it "autopilot" and bragging about its capabilities is what this is all about. No one should be defending a company that has been implying capabilities their cars don't actually possess. People believing what they company has been implying isn't solely on the customer.

I will assume that you've never driven any "autopilot" type vehicles. While I have used Tesla autopilot (I have driven them). I have driven Ford's system and can tell you that even if the system WAS perfect, they would make sure you had to pay attention. It monitors if the steering wheel is touched and newer systems have a camera that monitors the driver. If the system thinks you're not paying attention, is sets off alerts. Tesla may not go as far, but the anouncement before you use it clearly tells you what everyone should know, that NONE of these systems are perfected, and any stupid behavior on the part of the driver is their own fault.

 

[stewi0001]

I trust Otto pilot a lot more, as long as he's not deflating...

 

[hahahanoobs]

Let's ignore the crashes for a second.

Imagine being a regular Joe and PAYING to beta test a groundbreaking feature that isn't coming to their car.

 

[Puiu]

Bad or completely BS marketing coupled with a stupid name for the feature... it's just a recipe for disaster.

 

[sreams]

The driver had "autopilot" activated. If you have to pay attention at all times what does "autopilot" actually do? Calling it "autopilot" and bragging about its capabilities is what this is all about. No one should be defending a company that has been implying capabilities their cars don't actually possess. People believing what they company has been implying isn't solely on the customer.


What research did you do? Tesla stopped calling their semi-autonomous driving suite autopilot in 2024 this lawsuit is about a crash that happened in 2019 which was 5 years before Tesla started calling it FSD (which it isn't).
The article clearly stated: "There was the famous demo from 2016 that showed a Model X stopping at junctions and obeying traffic lights." The article never said the driver assumed it would stop at the light: "McGee later said that he believed Enhanced Autopilot would brake if an obstacle was in the way." Such as a parked car.

Autopilot (or TAC/Autosteer) and FSD are two separate products, and both are still simultaneously available. All Teslas currently include Autopilot, which will not stop for traffic signals. FSD is a paid add-on that was not used in this situation, even though the article's author keeps referring to its claimed capabilities as though that is somehow relevant to the case.

 

[wiyosaya]

Granted its 5-years on from 2019 and I would not drive a Tesla if Musk, himself, gave me a whole fleet of them for free, if I run my 2024 Prius Prime in the mode that most closely matches "Autopilot," it DOES recognize and stop for obstructions.

Over the years, Tesla's have been noted for running into obstructions such as parked Fire Engines. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...retruck-northern-california-freeway-rcna71436
Pretty stupid "autopilot" if you ask me.

 

[integr8d]

The driver had "autopilot" activated. If you have to pay attention at all times what does "autopilot" actually do? Calling it "autopilot" and bragging about its capabilities is what this is all about. No one should be defending a company that has been implying capabilities their cars don't actually possess. People believing what they company has been implying isn't solely on the customer.


What research did you do? Tesla stopped calling their semi-autonomous driving suite autopilot in 2024 this lawsuit is about a crash that happened in 2019 which was 5 years before Tesla started calling it FSD (which it isn't).
The article clearly stated: "There was the famous demo from 2016 that showed a Model X stopping at junctions and obeying traffic lights." The article never said the driver assumed it would stop at the light: "McGee later said that he believed Enhanced Autopilot would brake if an obstacle was in the way." Such as a parked car.

Even OG Autopilot systems have just maintained course and altitude for the longest time. Only recently have the gained the ability to auto-land.

Honestly, this is 6 years old. It's usually just being mentioned because "Muh Elon salute".

FSD is amazing. I did coast-to-coast LA to SC in my Y with older Hardware 3 and touched the wheel maybe 30 minutes the entire time... It's close.

 

[hahahanoobs]

Even OG Autopilot systems have just maintained course and altitude for the longest time. Only recently have the gained the ability to auto-land.

Honestly, this is 6 years old. It's usually just being mentioned because "Muh Elon salute".

FSD is amazing. I did coast-to-coast LA to SC in my Y with older Hardware 3 and touched the wheel maybe 30 minutes the entire time... It's close.

Amazing would be 0mins.

 

[Kirby1]

So....

Driver does what causes a lot of accidents, got distracted and did not keep control of the vehicle and then blames it on the manufacturer instead of taking responsibility - no matter how horrific or minor it is.

Typical retard.

That is not at all an accurate understanding of what happened here.

First off, it's the victims family that sued, not the driver.

Second, the claim is that Tesla was negligent for allowing people to use auto-pilot mode on city streets at all since they claim it was only designed for freeways and highways.


It's almost like reading the article actually helps you understand what it's trying to convey.

 

[p51d007]

THIS is why I would never accept "auto" driving. It's a flipping computer with sensors that can FAIL
at any moment. Other than "cruise control", I wouldn't depend on anything "driving" my vehicle.
What they should do is pass some law that says you cannot let a computer operate your vehicle.
It should be the responsibility of the operator of the vehicle to maintain it.
In this case, the person dropped his stupid phone, took his eyes off the road to find it. In most states,
that would be a charge of C&I


Distracted after dropping his phone, the car drove through a flashing-red light and stop sign at the T-intersection at roughly 60 – 70 mph, never braking. McGee later said that he believed Enhanced Autopilot would brake if an obstacle was in the way.

 

[toooooot]

China seems to be very quiet about their self driving cars and accidents.
Is it because they are that much safer or because newsmakers know not
to speak ill of their mad in China tech?
I am genuinely curious if their self driving cars are any different.

 

[Puiu]

China seems to be very quiet about their self driving cars and accidents.
Is it because they are that much safer or because newsmakers know not
to speak ill of their mad in China tech?
I am genuinely curious if their self driving cars are any different.

Completely untrue. Chinese self-driving cars have been in the news a lot, including severe accidents, like the Xiaomi car with 3 dead from march 2025.

Did you read the many articles from 2023-2025 about chinese self-driving cars and their issues from the The Wall Street Journal? Or the New York Times? Gizmondo? Engadge? Bloomberg? Reuters?

The only difference is that you don't really get the same western coverage for what happens inside China. And vice-versa. It's only natural for more news outlets to report on Tesla here in the west. And your search bias also compounds this issue by a lot.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

What's the point of a driver aid that promises to drive for you if you have to pay attention to the entire time? Tesla's marketing did not match these warnings. Tesla call their driver assistance aid "autopilot" when it should have been called something else and they never should have marketed it in such a way were people would have thought it had capabilities it didn't have. Again, what is the point of having a driver aid called "autopilot" where Tesla advertises it like it's full self driving when it's not? They shouldn't be allowed to make outrageous claims just because they put a disclaimer on activation.

I couldn’t find any evidence of what you’re talking about. All of their marketing was clear that driver supervision was necessary. Autopilot proper (from planes) have the same requirement. You are operating under the false assumption that autopilot was ever marketed to work completely in some situations. If you disagree, show me a clear citation of what you’re suggesting.

https://www.tesla.com/support/autopilot

We are told that planes basically fly themselves. How true is this? - AskThePilot.com

You’ve heard it a million times: modern aircraft are flown by computer, and in some not-too-distant future, pilots will be engineered out of the picture altogether. The biggest problem with this line of thought is that it begins with a false premise: the idea that jetliners are superautomated...

askthepilot.com

 

[captaincranky]

So....

Driver does what causes a lot of accidents, got distracted and did not keep control of the vehicle and then blames it on the manufacturer instead of taking responsibility - no matter how horrific or minor it is.

Typical retard.

You know, nobody seems to realize that it's a lot easier to fall asleep at the wheel when the driver has, or thinks he has, nothing to do. So, if all a person has to do is kick back and babysit the car, that person has a much higher likelihood of dozing off.

So, Tesla's "Auto pilot", isn't altogether that much more, (after seven decades of advancements) than cruise control with a fancy name.

 

[captaincranky]

I couldn’t find any evidence of what you’re talking about. All of their marketing was clear that driver supervision was necessary. Autopilot proper (from planes) have the same requirement. You are operating under the false assumption that autopilot was ever marketed to work completely in some situations. If you disagree, show me a clear citation of what you’re suggesting.

That's all well and good but, IMO, the system has to work all the way, or not at all.

As far as it goes, the average person doesn't understand exactly what the auto pilot does in an aircraft. The fact that Tesla's wasn't "over marketed", has little bearing on how owners perceive it.

Someone who just forked over 100K for a Cybertruck**, has got to be a bit arrogant and self involved to begin with. So, it's not hard to imagine that while they're overestimating themselves, the truck's capabilities are, "along for the ego trip as well".

It wouldn't be hard to imagine a brash personality convincing themself something on the order of, "the system works, they're just saying to keep your eye on it to avoid liability".

I posted this above, but I think it's worth repeating:

"You know, nobody seems to realize that it's a lot easier to fall asleep at the wheel when the driver has, or thinks he has, nothing to do. So, if all a person has to do is kick back and babysit the car, that person has a much higher likelihood of dozing off."

** Bigger toys for bigger boyz.

 

[captaincranky]

First off, it's the victims family that sued, not the driver.

Second, the claim is that Tesla was negligent for allowing people to use auto-pilot mode on city streets at all since they claim it was only designed for freeways and highways.

Point one, IDK if you watch OTA TV, but practically every commercial break contains a law firm, just bursting at the seams with ambulance chasers. So, if you lead a horse to the water every ten minutes or so, pretty soon, it's gonna get thirsty.

It would be intriguing to know what percentage of these "pain and suffering" lawsuits are filed on behalf of the dearly departed.

You point two is just a tad silly. (Where it came from IDK.) Tesla has absolutely no authority, either judicial or legislative, to tell anyone where, or how, they can use or abuse the system.

As to the issue of whether Americans are still capable of making informed decisions about anything, that answer is a resounding NO.

As for whether or not "Auto pilot" will stop for traffic lights, you'd either need a shopping cart full of more sensors, or retrofit every traffic signal and sign in the country with two way communications with every automobile's computer.

 

[Dave92F1b]

The driver had "autopilot" activated. If you have to pay attention at all times what does "autopilot" actually do? Calling it "autopilot" and bragging about its capabilities is what this is all about. No one should be defending a company that has been implying capabilities their cars don't actually possess. People believing what they company has been implying isn't solely on the customer.

Have you ever flown an airplane with an autopilot? I have. Autopilots just follow a preset course - they will happily fly into mountains or other aircraft in the way. The pilot must monitor what it's doing at all times.

That's what an "autopilot" is. It's an accurate description of what Telsa's autopilot mode is.