Tesla wins ruling to limit damages in US lawsuit over Autopilot crash

By Mike Scarcella

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Elon Musk’s Tesla convinced a Florida appeals court on Wednesday to limit the damages it could be forced to pay in a wrongful death lawsuit accusing the electric vehicle company of misstating the capabilities of its cars’ Autopilot system.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in Palm Beach overturned a judge’s decision from 2023 that said a jury could award punitive damages, not just compensatory damages, in the lawsuit filed by the estate of Jeremy Banner.

Punitive damages are designed to punish intentional misconduct and gross negligence, and they can be much larger than those for compensatory damages, which account for medical expenses, lost income and other factors.

Tesla and attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The appeals court said the evidence in Banner’s case “indicates Tesla’s Autopilot features were ‘state-of-the-art’ and complied with all industry and regulatory standards.”

Banner, 50, was driving a Tesla Model 3 when he was killed in 2019 in a crash near Miami. His Tesla drove at full speed and struck the underside of a tractor-trailer that turned onto a road in front of his car, court records show. The crash sheared the Tesla's roof.

Banner’s estate blamed his death on Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistant system. Tesla has denied any wrongdoing, saying Banner was at fault. Banner, according to Tesla, failed to heed warnings about the limitations of his car’s Autopilot system.

Lawyers for Banner’s estate previously told Reuters that “the jury should be able to punish a company such as Tesla that clearly has made the decision to put profits before safety.”

They argued that Tesla knew its vehicles’ Autopilot was a defective system, unsuitable on roads with cross-traffic.

The appeals court said “Tesla cannot be liable for failing to provide technology that it did not advertise and that did not exist.”

The trial in Banner's lawsuit was on hold pending Tesla's appeal.

The case is Tesla v Kim Banner, 4th District Court of Appeal, State of Florida, No. 4D2023-3034.

Read more:

Tesla, autopilot crash victim's estate clash over damages in Florida appeal

Judge finds evidence that Tesla, Musk knew about Autopilot defect

Tesla wins first US Autopilot trial involving fatal crash