Tragic Ruling Against Tesla – Jury Drops the Hammer!
(DailyVantage.com) – In 2018, 18-year-old Barrett Riley was driving at a speed of 116 miles per hour (mph) when he crashed his Tesla Model S. He died instantly after his car collided with a concrete wall. Two other passengers were in the car at the time of the accident, but only one survived. Following the accident, Riley’s parents learned Tesla had previously deactivated a speed limiter to keep the teen from speeding. They sued Elon Musk’s company. A jury recently decided the case.
On Monday, July 18, a jury found Barrett Riley 90% responsible for the crash that killed him. They placed 9% blame on his parents and 1% on Tesla. It turns out that’s a costly 1% because the jury awarded a total of $10.5 million to Barrett’s parents.
Tesla negligent but driver to blame for 2018 crash deaths, jury finds https://t.co/Lbk3wPsugO pic.twitter.com/t5q43ZGFcJ
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) July 19, 2022
Following a traffic citation where police ticketed the teen for driving recklessly at 112 mph, his parents had Tesla install a governor to limit speeds to 85mph. During the trial, it came out Barrett had allegedly “tricked” a Tesla technician into removing the device.
While Tesla’s lawyers argued the governor wouldn’t have helped, saying it’s “not a safety device,” the jury found otherwise. James Riley even testified Elon Musk allegedly said to him in a phone call, “well, I guess we shouldn’t have taken the limiter off.”
Tesla’s lawyers have not responded to requests for comment.
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