Tesla Driver Files Lawsuit in Accident Involving Computer System Malfunction
A Tesla owner from Plant City near Tampa recently filed suit in New York against a Tesla dealership in connection with an accident involving her Tesla’s computer systems malfunctioning. According to a report, regarding her lawsuit, she was involved in an accident in March 2022 in which her Tesla’s computer froze up and she was then unable to control her car, which crashed into a concrete wall. This accident is a simple reminder that, no matter how much technology can improve vehicle safety or allow motorists to leave driving in the hands of their vehicle and its various computer systems, one error or malfunction in those computer systems is all it takes to put lives at risk. Whether it is autonomous driving software that fails or a computer that malfunctions and removes a driver’s ability to stop a car or even to accelerate or use the brakes, simply because cars are becoming more technologically advanced does not mean they have become safer. If anything, the more reliant on technology they become, the greater the chances of serious injuries or even death when a computer malfunction like this takes place in a vehicle.
Technology Does Not Remove the Danger from Driving
As this incident highlights, there are limits to how much safer the self-driving or smart technology that is being developed by car manufacturers can truly make the roads. Numerous accidents have taken place while Tesla’s self-driving, or Autopilot, feature was engaged both in Florida and across the nation. The same is true with the computers that now control both Teslas as well as most other new car models; if those computers fail for some reason, the ramifications can be deadly. For example, a California man claimed in April that his Tesla’s computer screen froze as he was driving 83 miles per hour on a freeway, disabling the accelerator and various buttons and switches. The brakes still worked and he was able to get the car off the road, but not without a scare. Similarly, Tesla recalled 130,000 cars in May because of the risk that their touchscreen displays could overheat and malfunction. What these reflect is an increasing dependence on technology that can and does regularly malfunction, putting both the motorist driving, the malfunctioning car as well as surrounding motorists at risk.
Contact Schwed, Adams & McGinley
At Schwed, Adams & McGinley, our experienced personal injury attorneys have more than 200 years of combined legal experience representing motorists who have been injured in every conceivable type of motor vehicle accident, including those caused by vehicle malfunctions of all kinds. Regardless of how much technology in a vehicle is controlled by a computer, that technology still may not perform properly due to a temporary glitch or some larger problem with the system or the software. This can have serious ramifications not only for the driver of that vehicle but also for those drivers on the road around that driver. If you are injured because of a malfunction of your own or another motorist’s vehicle, then you are entitled to seek compensation for your injuries, either from the vehicle’s manufacturer, its owner, or both. Therefore, if you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident in the Sunshine State caused by a vehicle malfunction in your own or someone else’s vehicle, contact our experienced personal injury attorneys today at contact@schwedlaw.com or (877) 694-6079 today.