What We’re Reading
July 13, 2022
Elon Musk Looms Over Tesla Crash Trial as Prospective Jurors Admit to Being Fans (Bloomberg, July 6, 2022)
Tesla’s first jury trial in a case involving a vehicle fatality has begun in a Florida federal court. In Riley v. Tesla Inc., 20-cv-60517, the parents of James Riley allege that Tesla is liable for their son’s death after a Tesla repair facility removed a speed-limiting device on the Rileys’ Tesla Model S. James Riley was killed when “he lost control of the vehicle at 116 miles per hour . . . and crashed into a concrete wall of a house in Fort Lauderdale.” According to this article, during voir dire, several prospective jurors expressed admiration for Elon Musk and his contributions to innovation.
The complaint in this case sought damages in negligence based on Tesla’s removal of the speed limiter, and in negligence and strict product liability based on Tesla’s battery design. The complaint alleged that James Riley was killed not by the collision, but by an uncontrollable battery fire. In late May, the Court granted Tesla’s motion for summary judgment on the battery claims, leaving only the claim based on the speed limiter removal for the jury to decide.
We have been following this case for some time and will continue to track developments at trial. Free public access to the docket can be found here.
Two new fatal Tesla crashes are being examined by US investigators (The Verge, July 7, 2022)
Tesla has faced other high-profile crashes in recent years, several involving tractor-trailers. For example, see here and here. This report focuses on a July 6 crash in which a Tesla slammed into the rear of a Walmart tractor-trailer parked at a rest stop. The two people inside the Tesla, a 66-year-old woman and a 67-year-old man from California, were killed. A spokesperson at NHTSA said that “the agency is aware of the crash and is in communication with Tesla.” Florida Highway Patrol commented that they do not know whether Autopilot was engaged at the time of the collision, but that "in their investigation of this incident, our Investigators will gather as much info and data as possible, which is standard operating procedure."
More information about the California pedestrian death mentioned in the article can be found here.
Watch Tesla FSD React to Car Door Suddenly Opening, Driver Stepping Out (InsideEVs, July 11, 2022)
The news hasn’t been all bad for Tesla this past week. The videos featured in this article show FSD operating to avoid a collision with an open car door (and potentially an emerging person). “The vehicle had just a few seconds to decide how it would handle this unforeseen but actually quite common occurrence.”
The maneuver happens very quickly and is easy to miss during the first viewing. Enlarge the image and watch the right-side lineup of cars, noting the subtle movement of the Tesla moving over in the lane as it approaches the parked car.