A new class action lawsuit has been filed against Tesla on Wednesday claiming the company has misled the public on the capabilities of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology.
The lawsuit, filed by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP on behalf of Briggs Matsko, alleges that since at least 2016 Tesla has “misleadingly and deceptively marketed its supposed autopilot and full self-driving technology as either already fully functional or just around the corner,” making the vehicles unsafe.
The group says that Tesla knew their statements were deceptive and misleading but made them anyway to “hype” the technology and their vehicles to increase sales.
“As alleged in the complaint, people have relied upon the representations of TESLA that the self-driving capabilities are completely safe, when TESLA knew they had many problems,” said Joe Cotchett, a Partner of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy.
As a result the lawsuit alleges people have suffered fatal and other serious injuries from Autopilot and FSD, and that Tesla has “yet to produce a fully self-driving car.”
The lawsuit also cites investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and other regulators.
“Both the federal government and the State of California have very serious investigations going that as alleged in the complaint make this a very unsafe car,” said Nabilah Hossain, another lawyer at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy.
According to the lawsuit even today Tesla owners receiving the latest updates to FSD see problems, “such as cars having difficulty making routine turns, running red lights, and steering into oncoming traffic.”
The lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California, Case No. 3:22-cv-05240 by Plaintiff Briggs Matsko of Sacramento, California.
