Five cops in Texas have filed a lawsuit against Tesla after an alleged drunk Model X driver hit two police cars parked on the side of the highway.
The cops have also filed a lawsuit against the restaurant that allegedly served the driver alcohol prior to the accident.
The crash took place earlier this year on February 27, 2021 in Splendora, Texas. According to the lawsuit the Tesla crashed into two parked police cars which were conducting a traffic stop. The cars were pushed into the five officers, all of whom were “badly injured.”
In the summary of the case, the plaintiffs call Tesla and “industry titan” and CEO Elon Musk a “billionaire and an international influencer.” Despite the fanciful descriptions, the plaintiffs say some of the features offered by the automaker are “extremely dangerous in some circumstances,” made worse by how they are “enthusiastically promoted by Tesla.”
Specifically the plaintiffs claim that Autopilot is to blame due to “design and manufacturing defects known to Tesla” that make it unable to detect cars with flashing lights.
“Due to the design and manufacturing defects known to Tesla, Tesla’s failure to adequately warn of those defects, and Tesla’s unwillingness to admit or correct such defects, the Autopilot and Tesla’s system safety features failed to detect the officers’ cars or to function in any way to avoid or warn of the hazard and subsequent crash.”
The plaintiffs are also suing Pappasito’s Cantina, a local restaurant which they allege was negligent in serving the Tesla driver too much alcohol.
The lawsuit comes at the same time Tesla is facing an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over Autopilot crashes into parked emergency vehicles.
In an apparent response to the investigation, Tesla recently released a new feature through a free over-the-air (OTA) software update that allows the Model 3 and Model Y to detect flashing emergency lights and slow down.
You can read the full lawsuit here.
