A federal jury in Miami has found Tesla partially liable in a fatal 2019 crash involving its Autopilot system. The court awarded $243 million (€221 million) in damages to the victims’ families. The verdict reverses earlier court cases where the EV maker escaped responsibility for accidents involving its self-driving mode.
Tesla rejected the verdict and said it would appeal. In a statement, the company maintained that the crash was solely the result of driver error, noting that the driver of the car was speeding and had his foot on the accelerator—an action that overrides Autopilot functionality. “To be clear, no car available in 2019, or today, would have avoided this crash,” the company said.
The case stems from a 2019 collision in Key Largo, Florida. On April 25th, A Tesla Model S, operating with Autopilot enabled, ran a stop sign and struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe. Two pedestrians beside the SUV were hit: 22-year-old Naibel Benavides León was killed instantly, while her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, sustained serious, life-altering injuries.
Distraction
The driver of the Tesla, George McGee, admitted to being distracted at the time of the crash, having dropped his mobile phone moments before impact. He was overconfident in the safety net provided by Auto Pilot, which is a driver assistant and not a fully autonomous driving mode.
McGee was found to be 67% responsible and had already reached a private settlement with the victims’ families. The remaining 33% of liability was assigned to Tesla, with jurors concluding that flaws in the company’s Autopilot system played a significant role in the fatal collision.
The court awarded $129 million (€117 million) in compensatory damages and $200 million (€117 million) in punitive damages, with Tesla required to pay only the full amount of the latter, totalling $243 million.
Dangerous overreliance
Plaintiffs alleged that Tesla had failed to adequately restrict or warn users about the limitations of its Autopilot system. While the software was initially designed for use on motorways, the company allowed it to be used on regular roads without adequate safeguards. The legal team argued that such marketing and design decisions fostered a dangerous overreliance on a system not fit for varied real-world conditions.
“Elon Musk has long claimed that Autopilot drives better than a human,” said Brett Schreiber, one of the attorneys representing the family. “But that illusion has come at the cost of human lives. Tesla knowingly allowed its customers to use the software in scenarios where it was never designed to function safely.”
It is the first time a federal jury in the US has held Tesla responsible in a fatal crash involving Autopilot, which has long been a cornerstone of the company’s future strategy. While previous cases have resulted in private settlements or verdicts in Tesla’s favour, this ruling could open the door to increased litigation of autonomous and semi-autonomous technologies. An essential warning, as Tesla has commenced rolling out full self-driving Model Ys in the city of Austin since July.
Continuing sales slump
Meanwhile, commercial pressure keeps mounting for Tesla. In Belgium, registrations of new Tesla vehicles dropped nearly 58% in July compared to the same month last year.
The company sold just 460 cars, down from 1,088 a year earlier. Its market share in Belgium now stands at 2.2%, less than half of the 4.5% it held by this point in 2024. Competition from Chinese manufacturers such as BYD is intensifying as the brand registered 388 units over the same period.
In typical fashion, Musk pointed exactly to self-driving as the solution to the dip, claiming regulations are too strict in Europe. “Once we can offer customers the same experience as in the U.S., sales will rise significantly,” he said.
