"In August 2025, a jury found Tesla liable for the death of Naibel Benavides Leon, a 22-year-old woman who was killed when George McGee, who was driving a Tesla Model S, drove through an intersection while he bent to look for his dropped phone. The crash occurred in Key Largo, Florida, in 2019. McGee's vehicle, which was equipped with Tesla's Autopilot technology, crashed into an SUV that was parked on the shoulder, killing Leon and injuring Dillon Angulo."
""I trusted the technology too much," McGee said in 2025. "I believed that if the car saw something in front of it, it would provide a warning and apply the brakes." That jury assigned Tesla 33% of the fault for the collision, and awarded $200 million in punitive damages, and $43 million in compensatory damages."
A federal judge ordered Tesla to pay $243 million related to a 2019 crash involving a Tesla equipped with Autopilot. The crash in Key Largo, Florida, killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon after driver George McGee bent to look for a dropped phone and drove through an intersection. McGee's Autopilot‑equipped Model S struck an SUV parked on the shoulder, injuring another passenger, Dillon Angulo. In August 2025, a jury allocated 33% of the fault to Tesla and awarded $200 million in punitive damages plus $43 million in compensatory damages. Tesla sought to overturn the verdict but the judge upheld the payment requirement.
Read at Fast Company
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