Court records indicate that Tesla has reached a settlement in a Florida lawsuit stemming from a 2018 high-speed crash that resulted in the death of a teenage passenger in one of its vehicles. The lawsuit was scheduled to begin trial on Monday in a Fort Lauderdale state court, with the plaintiff being the estate administrator of the deceased victim. On Sunday, the court issued an order removing Tesla from the list of defendants, leaving only the estate administrator of the deceased as a party to the suit. The plaintiff's attorney stated in a court filing last week that the litigation against Tesla had been resolved through a settlement. According to the court records, the family of the deceased teenager, whose estate administrator pursued the lawsuit, alleged that a Tesla technician had deactivated a speed-limiting software without their knowledge. This software was designed to restrict the vehicle's maximum speed to 85 miles per hour (137 kilometers per hour). Tesla has denied any wrongdoing and maintains that the accident was caused by the "reckless" driving of the operator, "irrespective of whether the speed limiter was on or not." The attorney for the driver also denied the allegations made by the plaintiff in the lawsuit. The specific terms of the settlement remain confidential. A court official confirmed that the case was settled on Monday. The plaintiffs in the suit were the family of the teenage passenger who died. The crash involved a 2014 Tesla Model S sedan, in which the 18-year-old driver also lost his life. Court records show that the 18-year-old driver of the Tesla was traveling at 116 miles per hour (approximately 185 kilometers per hour) on a curve with a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour (approximately 40 kilometers per hour) before losing control. The vehicle subsequently collided with two concrete walls. Tesla has previously settled other cases involving accidents. In a recent instance, Tesla reached a settlement last year with the family of a man who died after his Tesla crashed and caught fire near Dayton, Ohio, in 2021. Tesla denied any misconduct in that case. The terms of that settlement were not disclosed. In February of this year, Tesla failed in its attempt to overturn a $243 million jury verdict in a Florida federal court related to a 2019 crash involving a Model S equipped with Autopilot. That crash resulted in the death of a 22-year-old woman and serious injuries to her boyfriend. Tesla is appealing the judgment.
Comments