A U.S. court upheld a jury verdict against Tesla for a fatal crash involving Full Self-Driving, ordering a $243 million payout. Learn about the case details and legal implications.
© A. Krivonosov
A federal court in the United States has definitively rejected Tesla's attempt to overturn a jury verdict in a fatal crash involving the Full Self-Driving system. This case stems from a 2019 accident in Florida that killed a 22-year-old woman and seriously injured her companion. Tesla must now pay $243 million in compensation, marking one of the company's largest legal defeats in lawsuits related to its driver-assistance technology.
According to court documents, the driver of a Tesla Model S was using the activated FSD system and became distracted while picking up a dropped phone. The vehicle, traveling at approximately 100 km/h, ran a stop sign and a red traffic light before colliding with a parked Chevrolet Tahoe. In 2025, jurors found Tesla partially responsible for the incident, assigning the company 33% of the blame. The court ordered Tesla to pay $43 million in compensation to the victims and an additional $200 million in punitive damages.
Notably, Tesla declined a $60 million out-of-court settlement before the trial began. Later, the company's lawyers sought to have the verdict overturned or to secure a new trial, arguing that jurors were misled by Elon Musk's statements about FSD capabilities. However, the judge deemed the evidence sufficient and found no grounds for reconsideration. Even if an appeal reduces the punitive damages, the total amount remains in the nine-figure range.
This ruling increases pressure on Tesla, which already faces a series of lawsuits over accidents involving its driver-assistance systems. Following this precedent, the company has settled several similar cases, but new claims continue to emerge. Regulatory challenges add to the strain: in California, a court ruled that the term "Autopilot" is misleading, forcing Tesla to abandon it to avoid a sales ban in the state.