Months before a jury awarding a $ 242.5 million verdict against Tesla for its fault in a deadly 2019 crash, the automotive industry had the opportunity to settle for $ 60 million. Instead, Tesla rejected this offer, according to new legal deposits that were first Reported by Reuters.
The settlement proposal, which was made in May, was revealed in a report that Tesla asked to cover legal charges for the plaintiffs in the case.
Earlier this month, a jury at the Federal Court in Miami found Tesla in part to blame a 2019 fatal crash involving the use of the company’s automatic pilot driver help system. A person was killed when a Tesla s model with automatic pilot was allowed to plow through a junction and hit a chevrolet tahoe. The victims of crash, Neima Benavides Leon and her friend Dillon Angulo, were standing outside the shoulder vehicle at that time. Leon was killed while Angulo was seriously injured.
The driver, who was not defendant in this case, was accused separately for his responsibility. The lawsuit filed in 2021 against Tesla focused on the automatic pilot, which was involved, but does not brake in time to avoid the junction. The jury commissioned the driver’s two -thirds of responsibility and attributed one third to Tesla. In the context of the verdict, the jury awarded the $ 242.5 million verdict as part of its decision.
Tesla, in a statement given to TechCrunch earlier this month, said he plans to appeal to the verdict “given the essential errors of law and irregularities in trial”.
TechCrunch has reached the plaintiff’s lawyers as well as Tesla. An external PR company that previously provided statements on behalf of Tesla refused to comment and direct TechCrunch to the company’s press address. Tesla interrupted her communications team several years ago.
The lawsuit, case 1: 21-CV-21940-BB, was filed in 2021 at the US District Court for the southern area of Florida.
TechCrunch event
Francisco
|
27-29 October 2025
