— A Tesla Autopilot crash in Florida killed Model 3 driver Jeremy Banner when his vehicle slammed into the trailer of a semi-truck crossing a Palm Beach County highway.
Banner's wife sued Tesla for the alleged wrongful death of her husband, blaming the Tesla Autopilot system for the March 2019 crash.
The Autopilot crash lawsuit has been on hold after Tesla appealed a ruling by the judge which said a jury had the right to award punitive damages against Tesla. Punitive damages are awarded for only one reason, and that's to punish a defendant for intentional wrongdoing.
But thanks to a Florida appeals court, Tesla has escaped any chance of paying punitive damages in the crash and death of Jeremy Banner.
The Jeremy Banner Tesla Autopilot Crash
In March 2019, 50-year-old Jeremy Banner was driving his 2018 Model 3 on Highway 441 in Delray Beach, Florida, when a tractor-trailer crossed the highway in front of Banner.
Mr. Banner had engaged Autopilot about 10 seconds before the crash and took no evasive action to avoid the crash. The Tesla Model 3 was traveling 69 mph when it slammed into the truck's trailer, shearing off the Model 3 roof. (Photo above)
Jeremy Banner was killed instantly, and his Tesla Model 3 finally stopped about 1,680 feet from where it hit the trailer.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the Tesla Autopilot crash and determined the primary cause of the incident was the tractor-trailer driver who thought he could make it across the highway in time.
The NTSB also reported Mr. Banner put too much trust in the Autopilot system, and investigators also found the Model 3 forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems failed to activate.
According to Tesla, the Model 3 Autopilot forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems weren't designed to activate for crossing traffic. And Tesla told the NTSB Autopilot wasn't designed to prevent high-speed crashes such as the one which killed Mr. Banner.
Safety investigators further determined there were problems with the design of Autopilot because the system allowed Mr. Banner to ignore the road and surroundings.
The Tesla Autopilot Crash Lawsuit and Appeal
Mr. Banner's family argues his death was caused by the Autopilot system, a feature they say he believed, "would eliminate the risk of harm or injury to the vehicle operator caused by other vehicles or obstacles while driving on roadways and would prevent the vehicle from colliding with other obstacles/objects while in auto pilot mode."
But Tesla references the 2018 Tesla Model 3 owner's manual regarding Autopilot:
"Never depend on these components to keep you safe. It is the driver's responsibility to stay alert, drive safely, and be in control of the vehicle at all times."
The judge allowed the Tesla Autopilot crash lawsuit to continue to trial after he ruled he could not “imagine how some ordinary consumers would not have some belief that the Tesla vehicles were capable of driving themselves hands free.”
In addition, the judge ruled a jury could award punitive damages in the case, a decision that caused Tesla to appeal to the Fouth District Court of Appeal, in Palm Beach.
The appeals court said the question it had to answer was “whether Tesla engaged in gross negligence so egregious that it is equivalent to criminal manslaughter.”
The three-judge panel found, "the evidence indicates Tesla’s Autopilot features were ‘state-of-the-art’ and complied with all industry and regulatory standards.”
According to the appeals court, damages simply to punish Tesla would require that Tesla knew or should have known Autopilot and other features "were likely to cause death or great bodily injury."
In this case, the appeals court ruled the evidence supports Tesla.
It's a huge win for the automaker because a jury may award billions of dollars for punitive damages. A recent lawsuit against Ford saw the jury award a family $2.5 billion in punitive damages after a Ford truck roof collapsed in a rollover crash.
The appeals court case is Tesla v Kim Banner.
The Tesla Autopilot crash lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit for Palm Beach County Florida: Kim Banner, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Jeremy Banner, v. Tesla Inc., et al.
