Tesla still has to pay $243 million over fatal Autopilot crash, judge rules
A federal judge has ruled that Tesla is still required to pay $243 million over a 2019 crash involving a Tesla equipped with Autopilot, despite the company’s efforts to overturn the verdict.
In August 2025, a jury found Tesla liable for the death of Naibel Benavides Leon, a 22-year-old woman who was killed when George McGee, who was driving a Tesla Model S, drove through an intersection while he bent to look for his dropped phone.
The crash occurred in Key Largo, Florida, in 2019. McGee’s vehicle, which was equipped with Tesla’s Autopilot technology, crashed into an SUV that was parked on the shoulder, killing Leon and injuring Dillon Angulo.
“I trusted the technology too much,” McGee said in 2025. “I believed that if the car saw something in front of it, it would provide a warning and apply the brakes.”
That jury assigned Tesla 33% of the fault for the collision, and awarded $200 million in punitive damages, and $43 million in compensatory damages.
A courtroom first
The 2025 verdict was a first from a federal jury over a fatal Autopilot accident, though there have been multiple incidents of Tesla vehicles in Autopilot mode that were involved in vehicle collisions.
Soon after that case, Tesla challenged the verdict, filing a motion asking the court to throw it out, or grant a new trial.
The company argued that the Model S was not defective, and that there wasn’t evidence that the company failed to provide warnings or instructions concerning Autopilot.
This week, however, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami disagreed with Tesla’s arguments.
Bloom ruled that the evidence from the 2025 trial “more than supported” the verdict, and that the company did not present any additional arguments.
That means Tesla is on the hook for the $243 million in damages.
“The grounds for relief that Tesla relies upon are virtually the same as those Tesla put forth previously during the course of trial and in their briefings on summary judgment-arguments that were already considered and rejected,” the decision said, according to MarketWatch.
Brett Schreiber, lead trial counsel for the plaintiffs, told Fast Company in a statement that he was “pleased but also completely unsurprised” that the verdict was upheld.
Fast Company reached out to Tesla for comment.
Prior to the 2025 trial, Tesla had rejected a $60 million settlement offer for the case.
Tesla has “indicated” that it will appeal the ruling, Electrek reports, but even if that appeal is successful, the judgement is still likely to be more than that settlement offer.