The parents of a Tesla driver, who was crushed to death in a horrifying accident, filed a lawsuit against the electric car-manufacturer. They also blamed its CEO Elon Musk for trumpeting misleading claims about the car’s self-driving features.
Genesis Giovanni Mendoza-Martinez, 31, tragically lost his life on February 18 2023, after his Model S rammed into a fire truck near San Francisco, according to a lawsuit filed by his parents Eduardo and Maria.
The deceased victim was behind the wheel and suffered fatal injuries while his brother, Caleb, survived the incident with non-life-threatening injuries.
Four firefighters also sustained minor injuries as a result of the collision.
Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk are being blamed in a lawsuit for the death of a 31-year-old man
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Image credits: Maxim
The family members are now suing Tesla and pointing fingers at Elon for misleading claims about the car’s self-driving technology. They believe the vehicles are not ready for the road, contrary to the company’s bold declarations.
Genesis’ parents said their son was under the impression that the car could drive itself and was using the ‘Autopilot’ mode when the crash took place.
“Not only was he aware that the technology itself was called ‘Autopilot,’ he saw, heard, and/or read many of Tesla or Musk’s deceptive claims on Twitter, Tesla’s official blog, or in the news media,” read the complaint.
“Giovanni believed those claims were true, and thus believed the ‘Autopilot’ feature with the ‘full self driving’ upgrade was safer than a human driver, and could be trusted to safely navigate public highways autonomously.”
Genesis Giovanni Mendoza Martinez was killed in a crash involving his Tesla Model S and a fire truck near San Francisco on February 18, 2023
Image credits: ContraCostaFire
Image credits: ContraCostaFire
“Based on representations Giovanni heard made by Musk, Giovanni believed the vehicle was a safer driver than a human and relied on it to perceive and react to traffic in front of him,” the complaint added.
The emergency truck involved in the crash had arrived on the freeway in response to a previous accident. The vehicle had its lights on and was parked diagonally when Genesis rammed into it.
According to the lawsuit, Tesla’s Autopilot misinterpreted the emergency firetrucks and police cruisers at the scene; they appeared as “single frames in the vision system that were either very dark or very bright,” thus rendering the technology incapable of reacting appropriately.
The family claimed this failure is indicative of systemic flaws in the technology—flaws Tesla allegedly knew about but failed to address.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating 16 crashes involving Teslas in Autopilot mode colliding with emergency vehicles over the last six years. These 16 crashes have resulted in at least 15 injuries and one death, according to CBS News.
The deceased crash victim’s parents filed a lawsuit against Tesla and its CEO, accusing them of touting misleading claims about the car’s self-driving capabilities
Image credits: Dmitry Novikov
Image credits: Jonas Leupe
Attorney Brett Schreiber, who is representing the Mendoza family, said Genesis’ death and the injuries sustained by the victims could have been prevented.
“This is yet another example of Tesla using our public roadways to perform research and development of its autonomous driving technology,” the lawyer told The Independent.
“The injuries suffered by the first responders and the death of Mr. Mendoza were entirely preventable,” he continued. “What’s worse is that Tesla knows that many of its earlier model vehicles continue to drive our roadways today with this same defect putting first responders and the public at risk.”
Brett said Tesla’s Autopilot feature is “ill-equipped to perform,” and the electric car-maker simply releases new software or “updates” instead of recalling the vehicles for a proper fix.
“It’s this rush of pushing product out that is not really ready for primetime,” he told the outlet.
The family claimed Elon’s statements about the Autopilot and self-driving features led Genesis to trust the car could drive itself safely
Image credits: Roberto Nickson
Tesla maintained that their vehicles have “a reasonably safe design as measured by the appropriate test under the applicable state law.”
They also claimed that the crash might have been caused “in whole or in part” by the driver’s “own negligent acts and/or omissions.”
“[N]o additional warnings would have, or could have prevented the alleged incident, the injuries, losses and damages alleged,” the company said in response to the family’s lawsuit.
They argued that the “damages” and “injuries” suffered by the two brothers, “if any, were caused by misuse or improper maintenance of the subject product in a manner not reasonably foreseeable to Tesla.”
In the Mendoza family’s lawsuit, they also accuse Tesla of knowing that their cars couldn’t live up to the hype created by Elon, who said in 2014: “I’m confident that — in less than a year — you’ll be able to go from highway onramp to highway exit without touching any controls.”
NHTSA has been investigating 16 similar crashes involving Teslas on Autopilot and emergency vehicles, resulting in 15 injuries and one death over six years
Image credits: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
He also claimed in 2016 that the Autopilot feature was “probably better” than a human driver.
The family further accused Tesla of undertaking “a widespread campaign to conceal thousands of consumer reports about problems with [its] ‘Autopilot’ feature, including crashes, unintended braking, and unintended acceleration.”
The lawsuit stated that Tesla forced customers to sign nondisclosure agreements to receive repairs under warranty.
The company received “thousands of customer reports regarding problems with Tesla’s ‘Autopilot’ system between 2015 and 2022, including over 1,000 crashes; over 1,500 complaints about sudden, unintentional braking; and 2,400 complaints about sudden acceleration,” the complaint stated.
One social media user found it “amazing” that “no one wants to hold Elon responsible when most of his vehicles have major flaws”
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