— Tesla Model S owner Giovanni Mendoza Martinez was killed on February 18, 2023, when his car crashed into a Cal Fire truck that had been hit by a An accident occurred and stopped across the highway to block traffic.
Now, Martinez’s family has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, which blamed its driver assistance system Autopilot for the fatal accident.
Genesis Giovanni Mendoza Martinez, 31, purchased a used Model S in March 2021, the lawsuit states.
“When Giovanni bought a Tesla Model S, he understood that the car would drive itself and that he would no longer have to drive it.” — Tesla lawsuit
At about 3:54 a.m., Giovanni Martinez was driving a Tesla Model S with his brother in the passenger seat. While the Model S was traveling in the second lane of northbound Interstate 680, the car engaged Autopilot.
But due to an unrelated incident earlier, a ladder fire truck was parked diagonally across two lanes to block traffic.
“Please slow down and pull over when approaching emergency vehicles. Truck #1 was struck by a Tesla while blocking the I-680 lanes in the previous incident. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene; the passenger was rescued and transported to the hospital. Four The firefighter was also taken to hospital for evaluation.” — Contra Costa County Fire Department, February 18, 2023
Even though there were two fire trucks and two California Highway Patrol cars on the scene, with emergency lights flashing, the Tesla Model S hit the side of the fire truck head-on.
According to the lawsuit:
“At the time of the collision, Giovanni was not in control of the target vehicle, but was passively sitting in the driver’s seat with the ‘self-driving’ function enabled.”
However, the lawsuit does not explain why the driver did not see the fire truck blocking the road or other emergency vehicles with their lights flashing.
The plaintiffs said car data showed that the Tesla was traveling at about 71 mph at the time of the accident and that Autopilot had been on for about 12 minutes.
“Giovanni generally maintained contact with the steering wheel prior to the accident,” the lawsuit states.
His family said Giovanni trusted the Autopilot feature to “regularly drive the vehicle autonomously on the highway.”
The family further alleges that Martinez fully believed vehicles were safer than humans and relied on Autopilot to sense and react to traffic ahead.
Tesla’s answer
Tesla immediately responded to Giovanni Mendoza Martinez’s lawsuit, telling the court that it was not the automaker that “caused or contributed to the alleged loss/damage.”
“Tesla knew and believed, and accordingly alleges, that the alleged losses were caused by abuse, misuse or modification of the product in question, which Tesla could not reasonably foresee.”
According to court documents, Tesla provided information and warnings to the Model S, and the owner’s manual explicitly warned drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel and be aware of their surroundings.
A warning is also given to the driver when Autopilot is activated, and repeatedly if the driver takes their hands off the wheel for a period of time.
“Tesla claims that any additional warnings would not have or would have prevented the incidents, injuries, losses and damages alleged by Plaintiffs. The law does not impose a legal duty to warn of obvious risks, and Tesla is not liable for any injuries or damages to Plaintiffs.” Liability. The damages claimed in this action.” Tesla
The Giovanni Mendoza Martinez lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California: Mendoza et al v. Tesla Inc..
The plaintiff is represented by Singleton Schreiber, LLP.
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