One died, one injured in Model S crash

2/8/2025 6:10

A Florida jury on Friday found Tesla

liable in the 2019 fatal crash of an Autopilot-equipped

Model S and ordered it to pay $243 million to the victims, in a

verdict that could encourage more legal action against Elon

Musk's electric vehicle company.



Jurors in Miami federal court awarded the estate of Naibel

Benavides Leon, as well as her former boyfriend Dillon Angulo,

$129 million in compensatory damages plus $200 million

in punitive damages, according to a verdict sheet.



Tesla was held liable for 33% of the compensatory damages,

or $42.6 million. Jurors found the driver liable for 67%, but he

was not a defendant and will not have to pay his share.



"Tesla designed Autopilot only for controlled-access

highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from

using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk telling the world

Autopilot drove better than humans," Brett Schreiber, a lawyer

for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.



"Today's verdict represents justice for Naibel's tragic

death and Dillon's lifelong injuries," he added.



The plaintiffs had sought $345 million. Their lawyers said

the trial was the first involving the wrongful death of a third

party resulting from Autopilot.



Tesla said it will appeal.



"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.







IMPACT ON FUTURE CASES



Tesla has faced many similar lawsuits over its vehicles'

self-driving capabilities, but they have been resolved or

dismissed without getting to trial.



A judge rejected Tesla's bid to dismiss the Florida case in

June. Experts said Friday's verdict may spur more lawsuits, and

could make future settlements more costly.



"It's a big deal," said Alex Lemann, a law professor at

Marquette University. "This is the first time that Tesla has

been hit with a judgment in one of the many, many fatalities

that have happened as a result of its auto-pilot technology."



The verdict could also impede efforts by Musk, the world's

richest person, to convince investors that Tesla can become a

leader in so-called autonomous driving for private vehicles as

well as robotaxis it plans to start producing next year.



Last month, Tesla posted its biggest quarterly sales decline

in more than a decade, and profit fell short of Wall Street

forecasts.



Tesla shares fell 1.8% on Friday, and are down 25% this

year.



DRIVER'S ROLE



The trial concerned an April 25, 2019 incident where George

McGee drove his 2019 Model S at about 62 mph (100 kph) through

an intersection into the victims' parked Chevrolet Tahoe as they

were standing beside it on a shoulder.



McGee had reached down to pick up a cellphone he dropped on

his car's floorboard and allegedly received no alerts as he ran

a stop sign and stop light before hitting the victims' SUV.



Benavides Leon was allegedly thrown 75 feet (23 meters) to

her death, while Angulo suffered serious injuries.



"We have a driver who was acting less than perfectly, and

yet the jury still found Tesla contributed to the crash," said

Philip Koopman, a Carnegie Mellon University engineering

professor and expert in autonomous technology.



"The only way the jury could have possibly ruled against

Tesla was by finding a defect with the Autopilot software," he

added. "That's a big deal."



Tesla, in its statement, said McGee was entirely at fault.



"To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have

prevented this crash," the company said. "This was never about

Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs' lawyers

blaming the car when the driver - from day one - admitted and

accepted responsibility."