Tesla sued by family of motorcyclist killed in Autopilot crash

Tesla is facing another wrongful death lawsuit by the family of a motorcyclist killed in a crash involving Autopilot.

Over the last few years, Tesla has been sued multiple times by people and the family of people involved in crashes involving its advanced driver assist (ADAS) features, known under their package names Autopilot and Full Self-Driving.

More recently, Tesla settled one such lawsuit brought by the family of a Model X owner who died after he crashed his car on Autopilot into a median. The driver was reportedly using his phone and not paying attention.

The case was interesting because Tesla always rejected any blame, claiming that the responsibility is always with the drivers, who are required to pay attention at all times. Furthermore, CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla would “never settle an unjust case.”

This makes the settlement interesting as the family’s lawyers argued that Tesla’s Autopilot system was defective and that the company didn’t take seriously enough its responsibility to curb abuse of the system, like drivers who use Autopilot and don’t pay attention.

Now, Tesla is being sued by the family of another person who died in a crash involving a Tesla vehicle on Autopilot. Reuters report:

The parents of a motorcyclist who was killed in a 2022 crash involving a Tesla Model 3 on Autopilot in Utah sued the electric carmaker and the vehicle’s driver, claiming that the driver assistant software and other safety features are “defective and inadequate.”

The accident killed Landon Embry, 34, who died after the Model 3 driver crashed into the back of his Harley David son motorcycle while reportedly going between 75 and 80 mph on Autopilot on the highway in Salt Lake City.

In the lawsuit, the family’s lawyers argue that the driver was “tired and not in a condition to drive as an ordinarily prudent driver.”

They alleged that they relied on Autopilot, which “should have identified the hazard posed by Decedent’s motorcycle in its presence.”

They wrote in the complaint:

“A reasonably prudent driver, or adequate auto braking system, would have, and could have slowed or stopped without colliding with the motorcycle.”

The complaint comes just as we learn of another unfortunate fatal crash involving a Tesla vehicle using ADAS features and a motorcyclist, but this time it was apparently using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system.