MIAMI (BN24) — Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla, has announced plans to appeal a Florida court ruling that ordered Tesla to pay $243 million in damages to the family of Naibel Benavides and her partner Dillon Angulo, who were involved in a fatal 2019 crash linked to Tesla’s Autopilot system.
The jury found Tesla partly liable for the death of Benavides, who was stargazing in Key Largo when she was struck by a Tesla Model S. The impact sent her body 75 feet through the air before it was found in a wooded area. Her boyfriend, Angulo, suffered severe injuries in the collision.
While the driver, George McGee, admitted to being distracted by his phone and reached separate settlements with the victims’ families, the court ruled Tesla shared responsibility. Plaintiffs argued that Tesla’s Autopilot was not designed for the type of rural, uncontrolled road where the crash happened, yet the system was not limited from operating in such environments.
Attorney Brett Schreiber, representing the victims, accused Tesla of negligence for allowing Autopilot to function outside controlled-access highways. He also referenced public statements by Musk claiming Autopilot was safer than human drivers.
Tesla called the verdict “wrong” and a setback for automotive safety efforts. The company stated, “No car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash. This was never about Autopilot—it was a fiction created by plaintiffs’ lawyers to shift blame from the admitted at-fault driver.” Tesla also denied deliberately withholding data or video evidence, describing any omission as unintentional.
Legal experts warn the ruling could trigger a surge of lawsuits against Tesla and other autonomous vehicle developers. Miguel Custodio, a car crash attorney not involved in the case, said, “This will open the floodgates. It will embolden a lot of people to come to court.”
The decision arrives as Musk advances Tesla’s ambitions to launch a driverless taxi service and expand autonomous driving technology, despite ongoing safety concerns. Tesla recalled 2.3 million vehicles in 2023 over worries that Autopilot did not sufficiently warn inattentive drivers.
