Can you sue Tesla for a crash involving Autopilot? If the autopilot functionality operated differently than advertised or designed, you may be eligible to sue Tesla for damages from the resulting crashes. If you have been injured in an accident involving a Tesla using the Autopilot system, a Salt Lake City Tesla accident lawyer can help.
Sustaining an injury because of someone else’s negligence is frustrating as it is, but it is especially egregious when the responsible party is a company worth billions that has the appropriate resources to adequately research, develop, and market products that are generally safe to use. When they fail in this, we are ready to help you hold them accountable.
Utah Accident Laws That May Affect Suing Tesla for a Crash Involving Autopilots
Before getting into the details of what you need to sue Tesla for a crash involving Autopilot, you should be aware of some of the bigger picture legislation that can affect your case. Two of the Utah car crash laws that can impact your claim are regarding Personal Injury Protection( PIP) insurance coverage and Comparative negligence considerations.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage is designed to provide compensation for injuries sustained in an accident, regardless of who is at fault. To pursue a lawsuit against the other party, you must file a claim under your own policy and utilize those benefits. Failure to take this step can prevent you from filing additional claims.
Additionally, Utah observes comparative negligence laws as established in 78B-5.818. While these laws don’t prevent you from recovering damages if you contributed to your accident, they can dramatically affect what you recover. For example, if you were awarded $100,000 in damages and determined to be 10% at fault for the accident, your recovery would be reduced by 10%, leaving you with $90,000 to collect from damages.
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Necessary Components to Successfully Sue Tesla for a Crash Involving Autopilot
Tesla has faced significant backlash lately regarding the role of malfunctions in car accidents. According to a report from LendingTree Insurance data, Tesla has the highest accident rate of any car brand. However, statistics alone are not enough to establish fault in a lawsuit.
A successful civil lawsuit requires the injury victim to establish several facts about the case. The criteria are the same regardless of the case, but the facts our team at Siegfried & Jensen may use to establish them will vary according to the details of each case. Fundamentally, to successfully sue Tesla for a crash involving Autopilot, you must establish negligence through four concepts.
Duty of care
This means that Tesla has a duty to take reasonable precautions to ensure its product is safe and properly marketed. The company may attempt to ensure it upholds its duty by including disclaimers on its website. These state that the self-driving features should always be used with a capable and attentive driver, theoretically to take over in the event of a malfunction.
Breach
The challenge in many Tesla Autopilot accidents is establishing that Tesla has breached their duty of care. An argument you may commonly see is that the name ‘Full Self-Driving’ for the autopilot feature is misleading.
Currently, the Tesla website states that this feature is not intended to replace an attentive driver. However, there are circumstances in which even an attentive driver may not be able to manage a situation effectively due to the autopilot’s behavior.
Causation
Once you establish that the company failed to adequately prepare their users’ expectations for use, or correct errors that may cause accidents, you must show that their failure directly caused your accident. Examples of this might include the 2022 death of a motorcyclist killed in an autopilot crash after the autopilot feature failed to detect and stop for a motorcycle.
Damages
Establishing actual damages often comes hand in hand with showing that Tesla’s breach of duty caused the accident. These damages are the losses you incurred in the incident. These often include medical bills, the cost of repairing or replacing property, and compensation for pain and suffering.
Unique Challenges in a Tesla Lawsuit
A successful lawsuit against Tesla for a crash involving Autopilot is not impossible, but it may present unique challenges. The burden of proof in Utah personal injury claims is the preponderance of evidence. This means you should show that your version of events is more likely than not to have occurred, and leaves you responsible for providing the supporting evidence.
As we have seen from the NHTSA investigations, the supporting evidence is not always available to provide a convincing argument. Additionally, you may face pushback due to the company’s several statements on its site that the autopilot and full self-driving functions are intended to be used while supervised. These arguments may require an attorney to take a more nuanced and precise approach to your case.
These notices and warnings can be critical, making it essential to work with an attorney who has experience in these types of cases and knows what to look for in terms of evidence. This may include specific details regarding your accident, or highlighting safety features that were inadequate, contributing to the accident, and therefore your injuries.
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Call a Utah Car Accident Lawyer After Your Tesla Autopilot Accident
It can be easy to feel helpless against companies like Tesla. However, if they are responsible for causing your accident, you have legal recourse. At Siegfried & Jensen, we offer services in both English and Spanish, provide complimentary case consultations, and bill on a contingency basis.
This means you can speak with us about your case without any obligation to move forward, and you won’t have to pay for legal costs upfront until we win your case. Navigating a car accident claim and trying to figure out how you will pay for your injuries isn’t something you have to do alone. Call us today for the support you deserve.
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