Photos: YouTube Screenshots
The sun had yet to rise in Delray Beach, Fla., when Jeremy Banner (below right) flicked on Autopilot. His red Tesla Model 3 sped down the highway at nearly 70 mph, his hands no longer detected on the wheel.
Seconds later, the Tesla plowed into a semi-truck, shearing off its roof as it slid under the truck’s trailer. Banner was killed on impact.
Banner’s family sued after the gruesome 2019 collision, one of at least 10 active lawsuits involving Tesla’s Autopilot, several of which are expected to go to court over the next year. Together, the cases could determine whether the driver is solely responsible when things go wrong in a vehicle guided by Autopilot — or whether the software should also bear some of the blame.
The outcome could prove critical for Tesla, which has pushed increasingly capable driver-assistance technology onto the nation’s roadways far more rapidly than any other major carmaker. If Tesla prevails, the company could continue deploying the evolving technology with few legal consequences or regulatory guardrails. Multiple verdicts against the company, however, could threaten both Tesla’s reputation and its financial viability.
According to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Banner, a 50-year-old father of four, should have been watching the road on that March morning. He agreed to Tesla’s terms and conditions of operating on Autopilot and was provided with an owner’s manual, which together warn of the technology’s limitations and state that the driver is ultimately responsible for the trajectory of the car.
But lawyers for Banner’s family say Tesla should shoulder some responsibility for the crash. Along with former transportation officials and other experts, they say the company’s marketing of Autopilot exaggerates its capabilities, creating a false sense of complacency that can lead to deadly crashes.
