Tesla Faces 243M USD Verdict After Rejecting 60M USD Settlement in Autopilot Crash Case

Electric car company Tesla rejected a $60 million settlement in a case that involved a fatal 2019 crash caused by its Autopilot system, which led to a verdict of $243 million damages, court documents filed in Miami, Florida, show.

The case is a result of a tragic accident that killed Naibel Benavides Leon and severely injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo calling into question the self-driving abilities of Tesla.

In April 2019, George McGee was driving a Tesla Model S at 62 mph when he crashed into a parked Chevrolet Tahoe, where Leon and Angulo were standing nearby.

The jury decided Tesla’s Autopilot system was faulty, holding the company 33% responsible.

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They awarded $129 million to cover the victims’ losses and $200 million in punitive damages to punish Tesla, pointing to issues with how the company markets Autopilot.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers argued Tesla should have limited Autopilot to highways with controlled access, saying this could have prevented the crash. “This is the first time Tesla has been hit with a judgment in one of many fatalities linked to Autopilot,” said Alex Lemann, a law professor at Marquette University. 

Tesla plans to appeal, insisting McGee caused the crash by reaching for a dropped phone. The company stated, “This was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers.” Still, the trial put a spotlight on Tesla’s claims that Autopilot is safer than human drivers, which critics say can mislead people into over-relying on the system.

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This ruling comes at a tricky time for Tesla, as Musk pushes to launch a robotaxi network and build fully autonomous cars by next year. The verdict could invite tougher government oversight and shake investor confidence in Tesla’s nearly $1 trillion valuation, which leans heavily on its AI and robotics plans. Tesla’s stock dipped 1.8% after the August 1 verdict.