In a tragic turn of events, the parents of Landon Embry, a 34-year-old motorcyclist killed in a 2022 crash involving a Tesla Model 3 on Autopilot, have filed a lawsuit against the electric carmaker and the vehicle’s driver. The lawsuit, submitted to the state court in Salt Lake City last week, asserts that Tesla’s driver assistant software and other safety features are “defective and inadequate.”
The fatal incident occurred when the Model 3, traveling at a speed of 75-80 miles per hour, struck the back of Embry’s Harley Davidson motorcycle. The impact of the collision threw Embry from his bike, resulting in his death at the scene. According to the lawsuit, the driver of the Model 3 was “tired” and “not in a condition to drive as an ordinarily prudent driver.”
Central to the family’s claim is the assertion that the Autopilot sensors, including cameras, should have detected the presence of Embry’s motorcycle and responded accordingly. “A reasonably prudent driver, or adequate auto braking system, would have, and could have slowed or stopped without colliding with the motorcycle,” the complaint argues.
Tesla has not yet commented on the lawsuit, which adds to the increasing scrutiny of its driver assistant systems, Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. These systems have been involved in several high-profile accidents, raising concerns about their reliability and safety.
In a related incident, a Tesla Model S in “Full Self-Driving” mode was involved in a fatal accident in the Seattle area in April this year, where it hit and killed a 28-year-old motorcyclist. Additionally, Tesla recently settled a lawsuit over a 2018 crash that killed an Apple engineer when his Model X, operating on Autopilot, swerved off a highway near San Francisco.
As these incidents continue to emerge, the pressure on Tesla to address potential flaws in its driver assistance technologies mounts. The outcome of the Embry family’s lawsuit could have significant implications for the future of autonomous driving and the responsibilities of car manufacturers in ensuring the safety of their advanced systems.