Genesis Giovanni Mendoza Martinez, 31, was crushed to death on February 18, 2023, after using his Tesla’s ‘autopilot’ drive – allowing users to take a back-seat while the car drives itself.
A lawsuit has been filed by Mendoza’s parents, Eduardo and Maria, and his brother Caleb, who was also injured during the crash.
They are currently blaming company’s CEO Elon Musk, after allowing the ‘ill-equipped’ feature to be used on the roads.
(Contra Costa County Fire Protection District)
They also suggested that accident may have been partly caused by Mendoza’s ‘own negligent acts and/or omissions’.
“No additional warnings would have, or could have prevented the alleged incident, the injuries, losses and damages alleged,” the company responded in a court filing.
But it’s not just the family who have blasted the company for its futuristic features.
The US government has made its stance clear, as transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg in particular, has strongly opposed the ‘autopilot’ technology.
Attorney Brett Schreiber, who is representing the Mendoza’s, told the Independent: “This is yet another example of Tesla using our public roadways to perform research and development of its autonomous driving technology.
“What’s worse is that Tesla knows that many of its earlier model vehicles continue to drive our roadways today with this same defect putting first responders and the public at risk.”
He added that the loss of Mendoza was ‘entirely preventable’.
Elon predicted that the system would be better than ‘human drivers’. (Chesnot/Getty Images)
The attorney described Tesla’s ‘autopilot’ feature as ‘ill-equipped to perform’, and accused them of ‘rushing’ to push product out.
The Mendoza family says their son was persuaded to buy the car after seeing an abundance of marketing from Musk, showcasing the self-driving feature.
Schreiber added: “Giovanni believed his claims were true, and thus believed the ‘Autopilot’ feature with the ‘full self driving’ upgrade was safer than a human driver, and could be trusted to safely navigate public highways autonomously.”
The vehicle he was driving had been in auto-pilot for 12 minutes prior to the crash, and had been driving at an average speed of 71mph.
It collided with a firetruck at a high speed, resulting in his death.
Four firefighters also suffered minor injuries as a result of the failed autopilot system.
And Mendoza isn’t the first to have been victim of a crash using the feature.
Between 2015 and 2022, Tesla customers reported 1000 crashes using the system, and over 1,500 complaints about sudden, unintentional braking.
