The family of a couple from California who died at the wheel of a Tesla Model S in July 2022 have named the automaker in a lawsuit that alleges wrongful death.
The suit was filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Florida, reports The Mercury News. The plaintiffs claim that Mary Lou Seelandt was driving the vehicle “as intended and designed” when it “malfunctioned.”
Seelandt, 66, was on the road with her husband Karl, 67, on July 6, 2022, when their 2015 Model S hit the back of a tractor trailer while exiting the highway at a rest stop in Florida, killing them both.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent an investigative team to the crash site, but it has not yet publicly stated if a driver-assistance feature (such as Autopilot) was in use at the time.
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The plaintiffs allege that the car was “defective,” but do not say what that specifically malfunctioned. The suit does note that the car was equipped with “crash avoidance and crash mitigation features,” however.
The accident occurred in the early afternoon, on I-75, near Gainesville, Florida. The highway exit in question split into two lanes, one for cars and the other for trucks and buses. The Model S ended up in the lane for larger vehicles, and crashed into the back of a tractor trailer. The retired California couple was on a road trip that included a visit with family to celebrate their granddaughter’s first birthday.
While Autopilot is not named specifically in this lawsuit, the Tesla system is under investigation from federal agencies. The technology has been involved in several accidents involving emergency vehicles, and concerns over misconceptions about its abilities continue to be a topic of concern among critics.
