Tesla was sued on Monday (June 23) for a fatal accident that occurred last year, leading to the death of three individuals. The plaintiffs allege that the accident was related to the autopilot function of Tesla vehicles.
The crash took place in September last year, when a 2024 Model S equipped with Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities crashed on a highway in New Jersey, resulting in the death of three occupants – 54-year-old David Dryerman, his wife Michele, and their 17-year-old daughter Brooke.
The lawsuit was filed by the estate managers of the three deceased individuals, including Brooke’s brother Max Dryerman, who was not in the car at the time.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Camden, New Jersey, attributing the crash to the design of the vehicle, claiming that its autopilot function is defective and highly dangerous.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Tesla, although the specific amount was not disclosed.
Tesla, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, whose vehicle’s autopilot technology has long been under scrutiny for safety concerns.
Tesla has previously stated that its autopilot feature is intended for use by attentive drivers with hands on the wheel, and that the vehicles are not capable of fully autonomous driving at present.
Under pressure from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Tesla agreed in December 2023 to recall over 2 million vehicles in the United States to enhance safety measures for its Autopilot advanced driver assistance system (ADAS).
Reports indicate that the Dryerman couple was driving their Model S back home from a music festival on September 14, 2024, when the vehicle veered off the road, striking road signs, barriers, and a concrete bridge support.
The lawsuit alleges that the vehicle’s faulty design caused it to deviate from its lane and failed to engage emergency braking, resulting in the accident.
According to the lawsuit, the Dryermans were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.