Tesla owner facing a very strange wrongful death suit after he kills biker

It is never funny when someone dies and as a biker, I’m extremely sensitive to biker deaths, but this lawsuit seems a bit absurd.

The suit — which also names Palo Alto-based Tesla Motor Co. — alleges that Jain carelessly and negligently drove into [biker]Alper. It also contends that the Tesla in the crash was “defective and unreasonably dangerous when used in a normal, intended and foreseeable manner,” according to the lawsuit. The complaint mentions funeral expenses but does not seek a specific amount of money.

Tesla attorneys have not yet responded to the complaint, which was filed in Santa Cruz County Superior Court.

According to the initial CHP report on the crash, Jain bought the car new about 10 days before the crash. He told officers that the car had a strong, new-car smell that prompted him to use a baking soda car freshener in it.

Jain told authorities that the smell caused him to fall asleep and there were no mechanical problems with the car, according to the report.

I don’t think the Tesla “new car scent” is any different than any other.  This sounds like an excuse but the lawsuit is even stranger saying the new car smell was the cause of the driver negligence.