A federal jury in Miami has delivered a landmark verdict, ordering Tesla to pay $243 million following a 2019 fatal crash involving its Autopilot driver-assistance system. The crash claimed the life of 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and left her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, with permanent injuries when a Model S, operated by George McGee, ran a red light and struck their parked Chevrolet Tahoe in Key Largo, Florida.
Jurors found Tesla partially liable, assigning the company 33% of compensatory damages, while attributing 67% responsibility to McGee, who had settled separately with the victims and admitted distraction due to phone use. The award includes roughly $43 million in compensatory damages, with Tesla’s share around $14 million, and a staggering $200 million in punitive damages intended to penalize Tesla’s role in the accident.
This decision marks the first time Tesla has been found liable by a jury in a crash related to its Autopilot system, making global headlines and drawing industry-wide attention to the legal and ethical implications of semi-autonomous driving technology. Tesla promptly responded, calling the verdict “wrong” and signaling its intention to appeal, asserting that the accident stemmed solely from human error and emphasizing that no available 2019 technology could have prevented the crash.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that Tesla misrepresented the capabilities and limitations of its Autopilot system, which was intended only for controlled-access highways, yet was permitted and even implicitly endorsed for use in more hazardous settings. They contend that Tesla failed to adequately warn drivers or restrict access to the system outside safe operating contexts.
The ruling delivers a major setback for Tesla as it pushes forward with its robotaxi ambitions, launching services in states such as Texas and California. Analysts warn this verdict may open the floodgates for further litigation against Tesla, as more accident victims seek accountability over alleged system failures and misleading marketing practices.
Tesla shares dipped approximately 1.8% on the day the verdict was announced, adding to broader investor concerns as the company grapples with declining sales and mounting regulatory scrutiny. Critics also highlight that government regulators had previously recalled over 2 million Teslas to upgrade driver attention systems and had opened multiple investigations into Autopilot-related crashes—concerns that now resonate more urgently after this high-profile judgment.
Industry observers note that federal pages of inquiry—including investigations by the NHTSA and NTSB—have long faulted Tesla for allowing the predictable misuse of its Autopilot system and for failing to enforce adequate driver engagement safeguards. A 2024 NHTSA report found the system contributed to hundreds of crashes, including dozens of fatalities, and criticized Tesla’s approach to monitoring user attention as insufficient.
The tragedy involved in this case is not unique: over the past decade, multiple fatal incidents tied to Tesla’s Autopilot have prompted lawsuits and raised concerns over the system’s performance in real-world scenarios. Prior settlements, including one involving an Apple engineer killed in a 2018 crash, have largely been resolved out of court—making this jury verdict all the more significant in setting legal precedent.
As Tesla prepares its appeal, policymakers, safety advocates, and industry stakeholders are closely watching this outcome for its far-reaching implications—not just for Tesla, but for the future of advanced driver-assistance systems and how they are marketed, regulated, and litigated in the courtroom.
