Overview

• Jurors determined that Tesla’s Autopilot system bore 33 percent of the blame for the Key Largo crash that killed 20-year-old Naibel Benavides and injured her boyfriend.
• The jury awarded $43 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages, bringing Tesla’s total liability to approximately $243 million.
• Testimony revealed driver George McGee was reaching for his cellphone when the Model S, traveling at 62 mph, failed to brake at a stop sign and struck a parked SUV.
• Tesla condemned the verdict as erroneous and plans to appeal, arguing that no vehicle, past or present, could have averted the collision under those conditions.
• A December 2023 NHTSA report linked Autopilot to 467 crashes and 13 fatalities and identified critical safety gaps in the system.