Aug. 2, 2019—The family of a man killed in a Tesla crash in Florida earlier this year filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the automaker this week, according to a report by WPTV.
The National Transportation Safety Board reported that a 2018 Tesla Model 3, driven by Jeremy Banner, was in autopilot mode when it collided with a semi truck on March 1. The investigators said that Banner turned on the autopilot feature about 10 seconds before the crash and the feature did not execute any evasive maneuvers to avoid the crash.
The law firm of Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath said the autopilot system on Banner's Tesla was defective, which resulted in his death.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said the semi truck pulled into the path of the Tesla, and the Tesla's roof was sheared off as it passed underneath the semi. Banner died at the scene.
Tesla said in a statement that Banner did not use autopilot at any other time during the drive before the crash.The automaker also said it's saddened by the crash and that drivers have traveled more than 1 billion miles while using autopilot.
