By Shawn Henry 
Tesla just dodged another courtroom showdown, quietly settling a wrongful death lawsuit tied to its Autopilot tech. This time, it involved Jovani Maldonado Garcia, a 15-year-old kid killed in a 2019 crash when a Tesla Model 3 plowed into the car he was riding in—no warning, no brakes.
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His family slammed Tesla in court, arguing its fancy “self-driving” software totally whiffed on spotting the car up ahead. They also dragged the actual Tesla driver into it, accusing them of negligence. Instead of gambling on a messy public trial, Elon’s empire cut a check for some undisclosed pile of cash. Legal sharks say it’s another sign Tesla’s getting twitchy about its liability risks.
This isn’t some one-off fluke. Just months ago, Tesla coughed up $243 million to the family of Naibel Benavides in another Autopilot horror show. Down in Florida, a jury slapped them with a $329 million verdict after deciding their tech shares the blame for a deadly wreck.
The takeaway? Tesla’s old song-and-dance—that drivers alone should babysit their half-baked Autopilot—isn’t flying anymore. Courts and regulators are waking up to how Tesla’s hype-heavy marketing and janky design choices set the stage for disaster.
For owners, there’s a tiny bright spot. All these lawsuits might finally force Tesla to tighten up its safety game and stop treating drivers like beta testers. Sure, they’ll still bark about “staying alert,” but they can’t just point fingers every time their tech face-plants.
Now, with its reputation and finances on the line, Tesla’s stuck figuring out if it can actually deliver safe self-driving—or just keep writing fat checks when things go south.
Image Via Tesla
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