Jury rules driver to blame for fatal Tesla crash in Florida

A jury found Tesla negligent for a crash involving a 2014 Model S but assigned 99 per cent of the blame on the teenage driver and his father.

The 2018 crash saw two Fort Lauderdale teens killed and a third injured when a Tesla Model S driven by Barrett Riley crashed into a wall at 116 mph.

After the initial impact, the 2014 Model S caught on fire.

Riley’s family sued Tesla in 2019 accusing the company of several things:

  • The Tesla Model S had a defective battery pack that led to the fire.
  • Tesla failed to warn purchasers of its vehicles of the battery’s dangerous conditions.
  • Tesla removed the speed limiter at the request of Riley after his parents installed it two months before.

Although it took three years, a jury in Florida has finally delivered its verdict.

The jury awarded the family $10.5 million but could only put 1% of the liability on Tesla.

As per Law360:

The jury found Tesla negligent for a crash in a 2014 Model S that killed two Florida teens and awarded the family $10.5M. However, that payout is the result of only 1% liability and the bulk of blame was assigned to the teenaged operator and his father.

Tesla, for its case, added a new speed-limiting feature dedicated to Riley at the time. The feature allows any Tesla owner to input a speed limiter on their vehicle instead of requiring owners to go to a Tesla service center.

Neither Tesla nor the Riley’s provided a comment on the verdict.

Are you buying a Tesla? If you enjoy our content and we helped in your decision, use our referral link to get three months of Full Self-Driving (FSD).
Previous Article

Twitter draws first blood in legal battle with Elon Musk

Next Article

Tesla V4 Supercharger design confirmed: Megacharger look-alike

You might be interested in …

tesla-insurance-app-saefty-score

Tesla owner suing over false Forward Collision Warnings that impacts his Safety Score and insurance premiums

Tesla Insurance expanded to Illinois late last year, offering Tesla owners the opportunity for lower insurance premiums based on a real-time analysis of their driving behaviours through the Safety Score Beta tool. The Safety Score […]