- Tesla has been hit with a new lawsuit over an Autopilot fatality.
- A 28-year-old motorcyclist was killed after being struck by a Model S.
- Lawyers claim the company overstated Autopilot’s capabilities.
Tesla has been hit with a new wrongful death lawsuit that claims Autopilot failed to recognize a motorcyclist, resulting in a car striking him. The 28-year-old motorcyclist was killed as a result of the incident.
Osborn Machler & Neff says Jeffrey Nissen Jr. was riding his motorcycle on State Route 522 in Snohomish County, Washington, on the evening of April 19, 2024. He stopped for traffic and was struck by a Tesla Model S being driven by Carl Hunter.
More: Tesla Driver Who Hit And Killed Motorcyclist Was Allegedly Looking At His Phone And Using FSD
Hunter was apparently unaware of the crash and continued moving the vehicle forward. This pinned Nissen under the car and likely contributed to his death.
Lawyers said Hunter initially told 911 he wasn’t sure how the accident happened. However, he later reportedly admitted he was “relying on Autopilot and may have been distracted, looking at his phone at the time of the collision.” Following this revelation, he was arrested for vehicular homicide.
While the law firm didn’t release a copy of the lawsuit, they claimed “Tesla has long known that its Autopilot system struggles to identify motorcycles and other small vehicles.” They added that the company “overstated the system’s capabilities, understated its limitations, and encouraged drivers to trust the system in situations it cannot handle safely.”
Despite this, lawyers implied the vehicle did detect something as they claimed there was “evidence that Hunter disabled or ignored collision alerts before the crash.”
Attorney Simeon Osborn said, “Tesla built a system that invites distraction” as “drivers think the car will handle more than it can, and the results are predictable and tragic.” He added, “Had the Tesla system worked as Elon Musk has touted for years, this collision would never have occurred.”
Tesla bills Autopilot as an “advanced driver assistance system that helps enhance safety and convenience behind the wheel.” However, the company notes it’s designed to be used by a “fully attentive driver” and that Autopilot “does not turn a Tesla into a fully autonomous vehicle.”
The automaker also notes that before activating Autopilot, drivers need to agree to keep their hands on the steering wheel and maintain control/responsibility of the vehicle.
While Tesla has changed messaging over time, The Way Back Machine shows that before the crash, on April 9, 2024, the company’s website stated, “Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment.” The company added, “While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
However, last month, the California DMV found Tesla violated state law by using the terms “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” in the marketing for their electric vehicles. The state took issue with messaging on Tesla’s website that said “The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat.” That’s false as the vehicles aren’t fully autonomous.
