Wrongful death suits filed over Tesla Autopilot crashes
Two wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against Tesla following fatal crashes involving the Autopilot feature. One lawsuit was filed after a New Jersey family died in a 2024 Model S crash, and another is heading to trial for a 2019 Florida crash. Both allege Tesla's Autopilot safety features failed to prevent collisions.
What happened
A Tesla Model S driven by George McGee struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe at a three-way intersection on April 25, 2019, while Autopilot was engaged. McGee said he had dropped his cell phone and bent down to pick it up moments before the collision.
A 2024 Tesla Model S driven by Max Dryerman's family went off the road in September, hitting a sign, guardrail, and bridge support, killing three family members returning from a concert.
Reported impact
Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, was killed in the 2019 collision, and her boyfriend Dillon Angulo was seriously injured. The impact threw Benavides Leon about 75 feet.
Max Dryerman's mother, father, and sister—two 54-year-olds and a 17-year-old wearing seatbelts—died in the 2024 crash.
Index analysis
The lawsuit alleges Tesla's 2024 Model S failed to effectively engage its advertised safety features including lane departure avoidance, automatic emergency braking, and forward collision warning.
Plaintiffs claim the vehicles were defective and unreasonably dangerous under the New Jersey Products Liability Act and similar liability frameworks.
Governance controls
Tesla's Autopilot feature has been subjected to a Justice Department probe reportedly starting in 2021 over Autopilot claims after over a dozen crashes.
The company has been accused of sharing misleading data in its Autopilot Safety Report, which critics say lacks transparency.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.