- Tesla is being sued after a fatal crash involving a Model X.
- Four family members and their dog died in the Idaho wreck.
- Lawsuit claims lane-keeping tech failed to correct the car.
It only takes a moment for the ordinary to turn irreversible. On the evening of September 1, 2023, tragedy struck on Highway 33 in Idaho when a Tesla Model X collided head-on with a semi-truck, killing a woman, her two children, her son-in-law, and the family dog.
The crash closed Highway 33 in Idaho, where it happened, for roughly eight hours as authorities investigated and cleared the scene. Now, one member of the family who wasn’t in the car that night is suing Tesla for what they claim was a faulty lane-keeping system.
More: Tesla Faces Lawsuit Over Fatal Model S Crash In Florida
That survivor is Nathan Blaine, whose wife, Jennifer Blaine, was behind the wheel of the Model X at the time of the crash. Their daughter, son, and son-in-law all died in the crash along with Peaches, their family dog. The driver of the semi wasn’t injured. Police say the Model X crossed the center line and caused the wreck.
What Made the Tesla Veer Off Course?
Nathan Blaine believes the Tesla was actually to blame. In the lawsuit, he claims that the Model X was “unreasonably dangerous and defective” due to what he describes as an ineffective Autopilot and lane-keeping system.
According to the filing, Tesla failed to equip the 2022 Model X with driver assistance features that were “reasonably available” for the vehicle’s model year and intended to help keep the vehicle in its lane.
Specifically, the suit alleges failures with Lane Departure Avoidance and Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance, both of which are advertised as applying corrective steering or actively steering the vehicle back into its lane when a potential collision is detected. The plaintiff argues that those systems failed to intervene before the Model X crossed the center line and collided with the oncoming semi.
A System That Didn’t Deliver?
According to the 33-page lawsuit reviewed by The Independent, the lawsuit also takes aim at Tesla’s Autosteer feature, which has been marketed as “intelligently keeping Model X in its lane.” The filing indicates that Autosteer did not perform as advertised and did not prevent the fatal crash.
“Tesla’s done a lot of good things, in my calculation,” attorney Lynn Shumway told thew news outlet, “but they did this inadequately. I think the technology is fantastic, but not the way Tesla is implementing it.”
It’s worth noting that nowhere in any report about the crash does the plaintiff bring up crash data. That’s key because it will likely be a major sticking point if it still exists. We’ve seen seemingly inexplicable Tesla crashes in the past that have later become widely regarded as driver error.
Whatever went down in this situation, expect attorneys to rely heavily on steering input data to prove their case. It should provide a clear indication of whether or not the driver put any significant torque into the steering wheel just prior to the crash.
