A federal jury in Miami has found Tesla partially responsible for a fatal 2019 crash involving its Autopilot driver-assistance system, marking a significant legal setback for the EV giant.
The jury awarded a total of $242.5 million in damages, including punitive and compensatory penalties. The case stems from a collision in which neither the driver nor Tesla’s Autopilot system braked in time, causing the vehicle to run a red light and crash into an SUV, killing 20-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and seriously injuring her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo.
The court ruled that Tesla bore one-third of the blame, while the driver was held two-thirds liable. (The driver is facing a separate lawsuit.)
This is one of the first major verdicts against Tesla related to Autopilot, a system that has come under growing scrutiny for its limitations and marketing. Tesla has settled similar cases in the past, but this time faced a full jury trial.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Brett Schreiber, argued that Tesla marketed Autopilot as being safe on all roads, despite engineering it solely for controlled-access highways. He accused the company of “turning roads into test tracks” through deceptive claims, especially from CEO Elon Musk, who repeatedly asserted Autopilot was safer than human drivers.
“Today’s verdict represents justice… holding Tesla and Musk accountable for propping up the company’s trillion-dollar valuation with self-driving hype at the expense of human lives,” Schreiber said in a statement.
Tesla responded, calling the verdict “wrong” and said it would appeal, citing legal errors and trial irregularities. The company maintained that the crash was not preventable by any 2019 vehicle and blamed driver error, not Autopilot.
This trial also revived concerns raised by U.S. regulators. In 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that driver overreliance on Autopilot, including distraction and misuse, was a factor in previous fatal crashes. Tesla reportedly ignored several of the board’s recommendations.
The ruling arrives as Tesla begins rolling out its Robotaxi fleet in Austin, Texas, powered by its upgraded Full Self-Driving system, intensifying the spotlight on how the company markets and implements autonomous driving features.
