On August 1, 2025, a Florida jury ordered Tesla to pay $329 million in damages to the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, and her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, following a 2019 crash in Key Largo, Florida, involving a Tesla Model S using Autopilot. The verdict, one of the first major legal losses for Tesla’s driver-assistance technology, included $129 million in compensatory damages, with Tesla liable for 33% ($42.6 million), and $200 million in punitive damages, fully borne by Tesla, to deter future negligence. The plaintiffs had sought $345 million.
The crash occurred on April 25, 2019, when driver George McGee, 66, distracted by a dropped cellphone, drove his Model S at 62 mph through a T-intersection, ignoring a stop sign and flashing red light. The vehicle struck a parked Chevrolet Tahoe, killing Benavides, who was thrown 75 feet into nearby woods, and severely injuring Angulo, who suffered broken bones and a traumatic brain injury. McGee, who settled separately with the plaintiffs in 2021, testified he believed Autopilot would assist him if he made a mistake, stating, “I trusted the technology too much.”
Plaintiffs’ attorney Brett Schreiber argued Tesla was negligent for allowing Autopilot, designed for controlled-access highways, to operate on a rural road without restrictions, and for Elon Musk’s claims that it was safer than human drivers. “Tesla’s lies turned our roads into test tracks for their fundamentally flawed technology,” Schreiber said. Tesla denied these allegations, asserting McGee’s actions caused the crash and that no 2019 vehicle could have prevented it. The company also refuted claims of withholding crash data, calling any omissions unintentional.
Tesla plans to appeal, arguing the verdict hinders automotive safety and innovation. The company claims a pre-trial agreement caps punitive damages at three times its compensatory damages ($127.8 million), reducing the total to $172 million, though plaintiffs dispute this interpretation. Legal experts, including car crash lawyer Miguel Custodio, predict the ruling could encourage more lawsuits against Tesla, especially as it expands its robotaxi network. The case, the first federal jury trial for a third-party wrongful death linked to Autopilot, highlights ongoing scrutiny of Tesla’s technology, following a 2023 recall of 2.3 million vehicles for inadequate driver monitoring.
Source: African Publicity
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