TESLA ORDERED TO PAY $329M IN FATAL AUTOPILOT CRASH CASE

Sun 03 August 2025:

A jury in Miami has ordered Tesla to pay $329 million in damages over a fatal 2019 crash involving its Autopilot system, according to reports Friday.

The case centered around a deadly clash in Key Largo, Florida, where a Tesla Model S using Enhanced Autopilot struck two pedestrians, killing 22-year-old Naibel Benavides and severely injuring her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo.

Jurors awarded $129 million in compensatory and $200 million in punitive damages, finding Tesla partially liable, CNBC News reported.

The suit centered around who shouldered the blame for the deadly crash in Key Largo, Florida. A Tesla owner named George McGee was driving his Model S electric sedan while using the company’s Enhanced Autopilot, a partially automated driving system.

While driving, McGee dropped his mobile phone that he was using and scrambled to pick it up. He said during the trial that he believed Enhanced Autopilot would brake if an obstacle was in the way. His Model S accelerated through an intersection at just over 60 miles per hour, hitting a nearby empty parked car and its owners, who were standing on the other side of their vehicle.

Naibel Benavides, who was 22, died on the scene from injuries sustained in the crash. Her body was discovered about 75 feet away from the point of impact. Her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, survived but suffered multiple broken bones, a traumatic brain injury and psychological effects.

“Tesla’s lies turned our roads into test tracks,” plaintiffs’ lawyer Brett Schreiber was quoted as saying.

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