Family of deceased driver sues Tesla for ‘misleading’

Driving is an inherently dangerous task, but some modern technology features should improve safety. According to one California family, tools like Tesla’s Autopilot were actually to blame for the death of their loved one. At around 4 a.m. on February 18, 2023, he crashed into a parked fire truck and died.

Carscoops reported on the accident when it first occurred. At the time, it was unclear whether the driver was using any semi-autonomous driving features. We now know that the driver, Genesis Giovanni Mendoza Martinez, 31, engaged Autopilot when he crashed into the fire truck.

More: Rogue Tesla crashes into multiple cars before falling off parking lot

The Independent reported that a complaint against Tesla on behalf of the Mendoza family said Giovanni had used Autopilot for 12 minutes before the accident. Data showed he “generally maintained contact with the steering wheel prior to the crash,” according to the report. It’s unclear why he didn’t see the truck’s flashing emergency lights and slow down or move away.

Regardless, the complaint alleges that Autopilot itself is defective and that Tesla “engaged in an extensive campaign to conceal thousands of consumer reports of issues with Autopilot’s functionality, including collisions, unintended braking and accidents.” Accelerate.” That’s how Tesla, for its part, responds to cases like this. It argued that the accident and its consequences “were caused by the misuse or improper maintenance of the product in question in a manner that Tesla could not have reasonably foreseen.”

There is no doubt that this whole situation is sad. We all make mistakes, sometimes including misunderstanding what a product does or doesn’t do. Tesla could no doubt make it clearer that Autopilot and FSD don’t actually offer true Level 5 autonomy – perhaps starting with their names, which could mislead consumers into thinking the cars actually do Drive autonomously without any human interference.

That appears to be the case here, the lawsuit says: “Not only did he know that the technology itself was called ‘autonomous driving,’ but he had seen, heard and/or read many of Tesla or Musk’s tweets Deceptive claims, Tesla official blog or news media,” the complaint states. “Giovanni believes these claims to be true and therefore believes that ‘Autopilot’ features with ‘Full Self-Driving’ upgrades are safer than human drivers and that the automation can be trusted to drive safely on public highways.”

Meanwhile, the automaker’s previous legal victories seem to make one thing clear: Ultimately, the driver is responsible for maintaining control of the vehicle at all times.

As we noted in our original report, countless such accidents occur every year involving a variety of vehicles, not just Teslas. That’s why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration creates campaigns like “Slow Down, Move Over” to remind drivers what to do when they encounter an emergency vehicle.

Photo credit: Contra Costa FD