Overview

• A Miami federal jury found Tesla partially liable for the April 2019 Key Largo crash involving its Autopilot system and awarded $328 million in total damages.
• The award assigns $200 million in direct liability to Tesla and requires the company to cover one-third of the $128 million allocated for victims’ suffering, resulting in a net obligation of $242 million.
• Tesla plans to appeal the verdict, arguing it contains significant legal errors that undermine efforts to advance vehicle safety.
• The verdict establishes a key U.S. precedent on OEM liability for driver-assist system failures and sets a benchmark for future autonomous vehicle regulation and litigation.
• The April 2019 collision killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and injured her partner Dillon Angulo, reigniting scrutiny of Autopilot’s technical limits and corporate responsibility.