Tesla Driver Testifies Autopilot Failed to Prevent Fatal Crash
Tesla
car that killed a woman in 2019 testified Monday in federal court that the company's Autopilot driver-assistance system failed to warn him of an impending accident or engage the brakes.
The driver, George Brian McGee, was driving his new Tesla Model S on a dark, two-lane road in South Florida when his phone fell to the floor and he bent to find it. That's when he failed to see that the road was ending in a T-intersection and that an SUV was parked on the other side, with two people standing next to that car.
Neither he nor Autopilot hit the brakes, and the Tesla crashed into the SUV at 62 mph, killing a 22-year old woman and gravely injuring her boyfriend.
In a civil case in federal court in Miami, McGee said on the witness stand that he was responsible for keeping his eyes on the road even with Autopilot engaged. But he also said he had been relying on Tesla's semi-automated driving system to serve as his co-pilot, and thought it had the ability to avoid such a crash.
"I thought it would assist me if I made a mistake," said McGee, 48, a partner in a Florida private equity firm. "It didn't warn me of the car and the individuals and hit the brakes."
The case, in the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida, was filed by the family of the woman killed in the crash, Naibel Benavides, and her companion, Dillon Angulo. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages from Tesla and aim to convince the jury that Tesla was partly responsible for the crash.
The case represents a considerable risk to Tesla. The automaker and its CEO, Elon Musk, have built Tesla's brand on the idea that its cars are nearly capable of driving themselves.
In court, Tesla lawyers have argued that McGee was solely responsible for the crash.
In 2023, Tesla issued a recall of all Autopilot-equipped vehicles to make its driver monitoring system safer.
An earlier civil suit filed by the plaintiffs against McGee was settled. The parties have not disclosed the terms of that deal.
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