A Florida jury found Tesla only 1% responsible for the death of an 18-year-old man has Model WILL sedan crashed into a concrete wall, but ordered By Elon Musk The electric car maker must pay $10.5 million to the driver’s parents.
Monday’s ruling by a Fort Lauderdale federal grand jury comes in what James and Jenny Riley’s attorneys call the first trial against Tesla over a crash involving its vehicles. Jurors found Tesla negligently turned off the speed limiter the Rileys had installed to prevent their son Barrett from driving too fast.
Barrett Riley was driving at 116 mph (187 km/h), on a bend with a 25 mph speed limit, on May 8, 2018, when he lost control of his Model S 2014 while trying to overtake another vehicle, causing a fire. Another passenger also died while the third survived.
Although jurors held that Barrett Riley was 90% responsible and his father 9% responsible for the accident, it awarded James Riley $4.5 million and Jenny Riley $6 million. la.
Tesla’s attorneys did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment.
Riley’s parents said the crash happened after Tesla, without their knowledge, disabled a device that limited the Model S’s speed limit at 85 mph (137 km/h).
They also report a design flaw in Tesla’s lithium-ion the battery Cells and battery packs contributed to the fire.
Tesla says Barrett Riley’s recklessness caused the crash and that his parents should have taken the keys after him in March 2018 ticket for exceeding the speed limit to drive at 112 mph (180 km/h). It also said Barrett Riley tricked his technician into disabling the speed limiter, that the battery design was not faulty and that the design was “overwhelmed” by the force of the impact.
In a statement, Rileys attorney Curtis Miner said they were pleased with the malpractice finding and hoped the case would help prevent other crashes and save lives.
Tesla has faced numerous lawsuits and regulatory investigations over incidents related to its Autopilot feature. Court records show that feature was not a problem in Barrett Riley’s crash.
