Tesla Settles Full Self-Driving Crash Lawsuit Involving Pedestrian

Tesla has reached a settlement in yet another lawsuit connected to a fatality involving its driver assistance technologies. As reported by Bloomberg, this lawsuit, which centers around the death of 71-year-old Johna Story in Arizona, has been concluded, although the specifics of the settlement remain undisclosed.

The lawsuit was initiated by Story’s family in 2023, following a tragic incident where the grandmother exited her vehicle to manage traffic around a separate accident affected by sun glare. During this time, she was struck and killed by a Model Y operating under Full Self-Driving mode. This case marks the first documented instance of a pedestrian death linked to Tesla’s automated driving system. to the lawsuit, the incident prompted a federal inquiry by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is investigating the performance of Full Self-Driving in low visibility scenarios.

This lawsuit specifically focuses on Full Self-Driving, which has been recently rebranded as Full Self-Driving (Supervised). In contrast, most previous legal actions against Tesla have targeted its earlier Autopilot feature. One notable case involved a Model X driver who tragically died after crashing into a median while using Autopilot. Tesla has since settled that case with the victim’s family. Currently, the company is facing additional legal challenges from the family of a woman who lost her life this month in an accident involving a Model 3 and the alleged use of “an automated driving assistance system.”