A jury in Florida has ordered electric car giant Tesla to pay $242 million in damages over a 2019 fatal crash that involved its Autopilot feature.
The case centred around a collision in Key Largo that resulted in the death of Nibel Benavides Leon and serious injuries to her friend, Dillon Angulo. The plaintiffs claimed Tesla's Autopilot system was partially responsible for the crash.
According to court documents, the Tesla, driven by George McGee, veered into an oncoming Chevrolet vehicle, allegedly due to a malfunction or misuse of the Autopilot system.
The jury found Tesla partially liable and awarded punitive damages of $200 million, in addition to $59 million to Leon's family and $70 million to Angulo's.
Because Tesla was found to be one-third responsible, the final amount payable by the company was reduced to $242 million, according to attorney Darren Jeffrey Russo, who represented both families.
Tesla plans to appeal the decision. Its legal team argued the crash was caused by driver error, claiming the driver was speeding, pressing the accelerator pedal, and distracted while searching for a dropped phone.
In a statement, Tesla emphasized that no vehicle in 2019 could have avoided the collision, insisting the incident had no connection to its Autopilot feature.
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