- Michael Ward suffered spinal and facial fractures after being hit by a self-driving Tesla.
- Now he wants $100k for past and future medical bills, plus $600k for pain and suffering.
- Oregon has seen multiple lawsuits tied to self-driving cars and related technology failures.
A man in Portland is seeking $745,000 after his car was T-boned by a Tesla that was allegedly on self-driving mode and ran a stop sign on November 25, 2023. The incident is now spotlighting the contentious debate around the reliability of autonomous vehicle technology and the role of driver responsibility when using it.
According to the lawsuit seen by Oregon Live, while driving through the intersection of Oregon 212 and Southeast Sunnyside Road, Michael Ward’s 2021 Hyundai was hit by the Tesla, even though Ward was moving with the flow of traffic and had the right-of-way. The crash caused significant injuries, leaving Ward with facial and spinal fractures, along with extensive dental damage.
He has filed a lawsuit against the driver of the Tesla, Kgoc Phuong Anh Dinh, accusing her of negligence by “unreasonably relying upon autonomous vehicle technology.”
More: US Govt Investigating Tesla’s Full-Self Driving After Four Crashes, One Fatal
Ward’s Hyundai was totaled in the crash, and he was transported to OHSU Hospital for treatment of his injuries. In the lawsuit, he is seeking $100,000 to cover past and future medical expenses, $40,000 in lost income, $5,000 for personal property damaged in the crash, and a substantial $600,000 for pain and suffering.
Despite the Tesla allegedly being in self-driving mode, the carmaker is not named as a defendant in the case. Tesla explicitly states in its guidelines that drivers must remain alert and ready to take control when using Autopilot or Full Self-Driving (FSD) features, a point that complicates cases like this one.
Other Tesla Self-Driving Lawsuits in Oregon
Oregon Live notes that other self-driving-related lawsuits have been filed across the state. Earlier this year, a separate lawsuit was filed by another Oregon man after his Tesla Model 3, allegedly operating in Full Self-Driving mode, steered itself into a curb and damaged one of its wheels.
He sued Tesla for the cost of a replacement wheel, $713, and sought reimbursement for the $6,000 he had paid to purchase the FSD system. While the court ruled that Tesla must pay for the damaged wheel, it declined to order the company to refund the cost of the software.
In 2021, a man sued a Tesla driver and the car manufacturer after the car apparently switched into self-driving mode and slammed into him. The man had sought $342,000. The case was ultimately settled for an undisclosed amount, soon after it was revealed the insurance company for the Tesla had disposed of or lost the wrecked vehicle before it could be analyzed.
Related: Tesla Allegedly In “Self-Drive” Mode Slams Into Parked Police Car
In the same year, another Tesla owner filed a $250,000 lawsuit against Tesla alleging that his Model S, which was in Autopilot mode, misread road conditions and made a 180-degree turn, slamming into a barrier after it hydroplaned on standing water. The man, Ranjan Lamichhane, said that he stopped pursuing damages after Tesla managed to boot his lawsuit out of federal court and sent him into arbitration, where he felt out-powered.
