Tesla hit with $329 million payout in 2019 fatal crash

A jury in Miami has ordered Elon Musk’s Tesla to pay $329 million to the families of the deceased and injured victims from a fatal 2019 crash after finding the company’s autopilot failure partly responsible.

The trial in the case had started on July 14 in the Southern District of Florida. The plaintiffs in the case were reportedly seeking $345 million in damages.

Details of the 2019 Tesla crash

George McGee, the driver of a Tesla Model S, relied on its autopilot feature to deploy brakes if need be as he tried to pick up his fallen phone.

The Tesla car reportedly hit a parked car by accelerating through an intersection leading to the death of 22-year-old Naibel Benavides who along with her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo was standing next to the parked car. Angulo sustained major injuries including a traumatic blow to his brain in this accident.

The lawsuit was initiated to analyze whether McGee’s actions led to the crash, or was Tesla’s faulty autopilot system was responsible for the accident.

Brett Schreiber, counsel for the plaintiffs, reportedly told the jury that Musk’s claims of Tesla’s Autopilot bring a better driver than humans are false and risks the lives of U.S. drivers.

Jury’s order to Tesla

The payout ordered to Tesla by the jury includes $129 million in compensatory damages, and $200 million in punitive damages.

Tesla has reportedly decided to appeal the verdict calling it wrong and discouraging to the makers of autonomous vehicles. The car company also asserted that its self-driving cars are capable of safely operating fleets of robotaxis as public transport.

In 2021, Tesla deployed a number of software updates to Tesla systems after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into its autopilot systems.

News about Tesla cars being involved in crashes have reportedly made it to the headlines. Just this week, a Tesla car reportedly drove into a tree and caught fire in Monterey County. The driver of the car, 63-year-old Kevin Columb Lynch, was declared dead at the scene by emergency responders.

This case has, yet again, brought Tesla’s autopilot under probe as the investigating authorities seek to find out if the driver was under alcoholic influence or if the car’s autopilot system faltered.