Tesla Reaches Settlement in Lawsuit Linked to Fatal Incident Involving Full Self-Driving Technology

Tesla has reached a settlement regarding a lawsuit connected to a fatal incident involving its driver assistance technology. According to reports, the lawsuit concerns the death of 71-year-old Johna Story in Arizona. While the case has been settled, the specific terms remain undisclosed.

The lawsuit was filed by Story’s family in 2023 after she was fatally struck by a Model Y equipped with the Full Self-Driving feature while she was directing traffic around another accident that had occurred due to glare from the sun. This incident marked the first recorded pedestrian death associated with Tesla’s automated driving system. Additionally, it prompted a federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to assess how the Full Self-Driving feature performs in low visibility conditions.

Unlike previous lawsuits that often center around Tesla’s Autopilot feature, this case specifically addresses Full Self-Driving, which has recently been updated to Full Self-Driving (Supervised). Other legal actions, such as one involving a fatal crash of a Model X driver using Autopilot, have led to settlements in the past. Currently, Tesla is also facing a lawsuit from the family of a woman who died this month in an incident involving a Model 3 and alleged use of an “automated driving assistance system.”