Yes. You can obtain an insurance settlement (or a court verdict) if you have been injured or suffered property damage because of a crash caused by a driverless car — also known as an autopiloted vehicle. This was recently proven accurate when a jury in Florida held that Tesla was partly liable for a car accident involving one of their vehicles. See the NBC media report here.

Some media reports have it seem like it was a surprise that a company like Tesla could be held liable for a crash caused by a vehicle “driven” by their Autopilot. However, this was no surprise for experienced Maryland personal injury and car accident lawyers — like those here at the Law Office of Robert Castro. If a person or company causes an accident and there are injuries or property damage, under Maryland law, that person or company is legally liable to pay compensation. If you have been injured by a driverless car, call us. We have offices in Waldorf, Maryland, and offer auto accident legal services throughout Southern Maryland. Use our contact page or call us at (301) 870-1200.

The only thing that might have been surprising about the Florida verdict was the size of the award. The Florida jury fined Tesla $200 million for its fault in the accident related to the design of the Autopilot software. In Maryland, if there are multiple parties at fault for an accident, then the jury decides what percentage of fault is to be assigned to each guilty party. This is similarly true under Florida law. So, in the Florida case, the jury found Tesla 33% at fault, and the driver/owner of the vehicle was assessed 67% fault. The verdict on that part of the case was $129 million, with Tesla being responsible for paying one-third (around $43 million). In addition, the jury awarded the victims $200 million in punitive damages against Tesla for what the jury decided was reckless negligence on the part of Tesla for allowing Autopilot use on roads it was not designed for and failing to adequately monitor whether the human driver was distracted.

The case involved a crash in 2019, which occurred in the Florida Keys when neither the driver nor the Tesla Autopilot software braked at an intersection. While the driver was distracted, the Tesla crashed into a parked vehicle and then struck two individuals. One of the victims died after being hit, and the other suffered severe injuries.

The case involved two theories of legal liability. The first theory was negligence. That is, both the driver and Tesla were negligent in various ways leading up to the crash. The second theory — directed at Tesla — was product liability. That is, Tesla put into the market a device — the Autopilot software program — that was defective. If this accident had occurred here in Maryland, the same two legal theories of liability would have been used. And, likely, the result would have been the same.

Contact Waldorf, MD Personal Injury Attorney Robert Castro Today

This article has been provided by the Law Office of Robert Castro. For more information or questions, contact our office to speak to an experienced Maryland personal injury lawyer at (301) 870-1200. We are Waldorf, MD, Personal Injury lawyers. Our address is 2670 Crain Highway, Waldorf, MD 20601.