Evidence shows Tesla, Elon Musk ignored autopilot defects that led to fatal crash, judge rules
A Florida judge found evidence that Elon Musk and other Tesla executives turned a blind eye to defects in their self-driving technology.
Hannah Phillips
Palm Beach Post
crashed into a tractor-trailer moments after he let go of the wheel.
Kim Banner sued Musk and his company in 2019 after her husband, Jeremy Banner, died behind the wheel of an autopiloted Tesla Model 3 in suburban
Delray Beach. Circuit Judge Reid Scott rejected Tesla's motion to dismiss the wrongful death lawsuit this month, setting the stage for what's expected to be a month-long jury trial.
"This case goes far beyond simple negligence or mistake," said Lake Lytal III, one of Banner's attorneys. "This is intentional conduct, by both the company and Elon Musk, to not fix a defect they knew was killing their customers."
We don't need fully self-driving cars to save lives
According to the lawsuit, 50-year-old Jeremy Banner paid $5,000 for the “Enhanced Autopilot,” which promises superior safety over Tesla's standard Autopilot. The father of three activated the Autopilot system, but Banner's attorneys say it failed to detect and respond to the tractor-trailer
that drove into his path on State Highway 441 on March 1, 2019.
In a 23-page ruling this month, the judge said Kim Banner had enough evidence to argue Tesla's culpability at trial. Scott also ruled that she can seek punitive damages from the company, which has maintained that neither its technology nor its misleading advertisements were responsible for the crash.
Who's moving to Florida?What new driver's license data tells us
Chevy beats Tesla for most driven electric vehicle among West Palm drivers
"You click it, you never see it again. Nobody reads it," said Banner's attorney, Lytal. "You can't hide behind something like that when your company knows your product has a defect that's killing people."
Lytal said the case is "extremely likely" to go to trial, and there have been no realistic talks of settling it outside of court. In the meantime, Banner's attorneys and those representing Tesla and Musk, who did not respond to requests for comment, are scheduled to meet again Friday to discuss which confidential court filings can be unsealed to the public.
The judge previously ordered that all his rulings be confidential, pursuant to a protective order common in product liability cases. They were mistakenly available on the Palm Beach County court clerk's website last week but have since been taken down.