Elon Musk's Tesla Under Trial After Car On Autopilot Kills Stargazing Woman

Last Updated:July 15, 2025, 23:28 IST

A trial against Tesla began on Monday to determine if the company is guilty for Naibel Benavides' death. Tesla's Autopilot is blamed for the incident.

Elon Musk's Tesla Under Trial (Reuters/file)

A trial against Elon Musk’s Tesla began on Monday, with a jury to decide if the company is guilty for the death of Naibel Benavides, a university student, who was stargazing with her boyfriend. She was sent flying 75ft through the air after she was hit by a Tesla that allegedly ran through a red light and a stop sign in Florida. Her boyfriend was seriously injured.

Attorneys for the plaintiff contend that the EV manufacturer’s driver-assistance system, Autopilot, should have issued a warning and applied the brakes when the Model S sped through flashing red lights, ignored a stop sign, and failed to stop at a T-intersection while traveling nearly 70 miles per hour during the April 2019 crash.

According to Sky News, the Tesla’s driver –George McGee– eached a separate settlement with the victims’ families and is not a plaintiff. Lawyers contend that Tesla’s driver assistance feature should have warned the driver and braked before the collision.

However, the company has pinned the entire blame on the driver as they claim that he had reached down to pick up a dropped mobile phone at the time of the incident.

The company was quoted by Sky News as saying, “The evidence clearly shows that this crash had nothing to do with Tesla’s Autopilot technology. Instead, like so many unfortunate accidents since cell phones were invented, this was caused by a distracted driver."

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

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