A new lawsuit has been filed against Tesla following a tragic accident in Idaho that killed four family members, with the plaintiffs blaming the automaker’s Autosteer and driver-assist features for veering the Model X into an oncoming truck.
This is just the latest in a wave of lawsuits hitting Tesla after the automaker lost its first major Autopilot trial last year.
Warning: this is a heartbreaking story.
The accident occurred on September 1, 2023, involving a 2022 Tesla Model X. According to the complaint, Jennifer Blaine, her two daughters Denali (11) and Emily (22), and her son-in-law Zachary Leavitt (24) were traveling on Idaho State Highway 33 when the vehicle “abruptly veered” into the westbound lane while navigating a gentle curve.
The Model X collided head-on with a semi-truck, killing all four occupants and the family dog.
The complaint specifically mentioned that Autosteer, Tesla’s advanced lane keeping system under Autopilot, was reportedly activated during the drive. It also mentioned that the family bought Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ package for the Model X.
Nathan Blaine, the husband and father of the victims, filed the lawsuit accusing Tesla and CEO Elon Musk of “intentionally misrepresenting the safety of their vehicles.” The complaint alleges that the car’s Autosteer function and other safety features like Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Assist “defectively failed” to keep the vehicle in its lane or warn the driver.
You can read the full report on the lawsuit from The Independent.
The lawsuit claims that the family believed the vehicle was “safer than a human driver” based on Musk’s repeated claims about Tesla’s autonomy. It also points out that while other manufacturers use infrared eye-tracking to ensure driver attention, Tesla’s camera-based monitoring was inadequate at the time.
Attorney Lynn Shumway, representing the family, stated:
“Tesla’s done a lot of good things… but they did this inadequately. I think the technology is fantastic, but not the way Tesla is implementing it.”
The Floodgates are Open
We have been reporting on this shift in the legal landscape regarding Tesla’s ADAS features for months now. For years, Tesla successfully argued that drivers are solely responsible for their vehicles because the user manual states they must keep their hands on the wheel.
But that defense took a massive hit in August 2025, when a Florida jury found Tesla partially liable for a fatal crash involving Autopilot. The jury awarded the plaintiffs $243 million, marking the first time Tesla lost a trial of this nature.
Since that verdict, we noted that the “floodgates are open”. Tesla has since settled multiple lawsuits rather than letting them go to trial, likely to avoid further discovery that could reveal damaging information about what the company knew regarding Autopilot’s limitations.
This new case in Idaho seems to be following the same pattern, attacking Tesla not just on the technical failure, but on the marketing and the false sense of security provided to drivers – leading to some abused of the systems.
Electrek’s Take
This is heartbreaking.
Top comment by Bob
Well, we tried to do a test with the family - how to open the back doors of the X - I showed everyone a video first and explained that the safety release is behind the speaker and then they tried it - a teen and pre-teen failed to open the doors - it is almost impossible to pull the little wire even if you locate it after about 3 minutes or so.
There is no handle or anything - the little wire is too short & it keeps slipping out of hands!!! Then I did pull it & asked to push the doors up - one kid barely was able to push it enough to crawl through, the other one could not. Now imagine if the car lands not perfectly straight or under an angle - impossible. Next we tried to get out of the 3rd row in a 7 seater - almost impossible too. 6 seater would be much safer with captains chairs in that regard.
Next we tried to get out via trunk from the 3rd row. I almost broke nails as an adult man trying to take the cap off and then fish for a few minutes to find the small metal wire - again with no handle whatsoever in the end! I was able to pull it open once located a little easier than the doors, but then again this is in calm controlled environment - should there be a stress situation or time limit or traffic risk or any other situation god forbid, im not sure anyone would be able to get out of that in reasonable amount of time if at all.
Now that I think about it - will have to probably move on from this vehicle asap. Thats coming from someone who has owned Teslas since 2013...
As I’ve said before, I believe the Florida verdict was a turning point. Tesla can no longer hide behind the “Level 2” classification while marketing the car as “Full Self-Driving” and under “Autopilot” and having the CEO say the car is safer than a human. If the system veers into oncoming traffic on a “gentle curve” without warning, that is a failure of the product and/or marketing, regardless of whether the driver should have intervened.
We are going to see more of these. Tesla’s strategy of settling quietly suggests they know they are vulnerable. The question is no longer if Tesla will pay for these accidents, but how much, and whether it will finally force them to change how they sell these features.
The current legal cases are now not just focused whether Tesla’s ADAS features are defective, but whether Tesla played a role in making customers think those features were more than just normal driver assistance features.
The discrepancy between what the car can actually do and what Elon tells people it can do is getting people killed.
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