Did A Vehicle Malfunction Cause This Tesla Accident?

Posted By The Law Offices of Eugene G. Bruno, P.C. Posted in: Wrongful Death.

17-September-2019

Losing a loved one is incredibly difficult. If you are here today because the careless or negligent actions of another person or company took the life of your loved one, please accept our condolences. At the Law Offices of Eugene G. Bruno, we understand that these cases can become complex. Our San Diego wrongful death attorneys are ready to get to work on your case. Today, though, we wanted to discuss the findings of a government report related to Tesla’s autopilot and how it could affect cases moving forward.

This is an interesting case

Tesla has been in the news a lot lately, and not for good reasons. There was a recent wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of a Florida man against Tesla. The man’s parents allege that Tesla’s Autopilot function is faulty and caused their son’s death. We have been watching these cases because there have been multiple incidents in California in which Autopilot was engaged in a Tesla when a crash occurred.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) just released a report about one such incident. This crash involved a Tesla that slammed into the back of a fire truck in Culver City. In this case, the driver was not injured. He says that he was travelling to work in LA and was using the Autopilot feature when a vehicle in front of him swerved out of the way suddenly. They swerved because there was a firetruck stopped in the roadway, which the Tesla driver proceeded to slam into. The Autopilot feature never braked the vehicle.

The NTSB report says that the driver did not have his hands on the wheel at the time and never hit the brakes. Tesla says that their Autopilot system, despite its names, is to be used only with the driver fully aware of what is going on and that they should keep their hands on the wheel at all times.

As vehicles become more autonomous, we will see more and more of these cases pop up. Does Autopilot work how it is supposed to? Does Tesla offer false capabilities or deceive drivers about what they can and cannot do? New technology is leading to murky legal waters for vehicle crashes.

Let our team help you through this

Have you lost a loved one? Was their death caused by the careless, negligent, or willful actions of someone else?

If you answered yes to those questions, please seek legal assistance as soon as possible. Our knowledgeable and experienced team is ready to get to work on your behalf. We will investigate what happened as we work to secure compensation for:

Funeral and burial expenses
Loss of future income and benefits of the deceased
Cost of pre-death medical care
Pain and suffering damages
Loss of companionship damages
Punitive damages against those responsible

At the Law Offices of Eugene G. Bruno, our San Diego wrongful death attorneys are ready to help. You can contact us by calling us at 888-278-6688 for a free consultation.