Tesla has settled a lawsuit over a fatal accident involving Autopilot

Tesla has settled a lawsuit over an accident involving its Full Self-Driving system, according to Bloomberg. The accident occurred in 2023 and was the first pedestrian fatality linked to this technology. Company CEO Elon Musk is betting on autonomous driving and robotaxis as key areas of development.

The accident was the first known case of a pedestrian’s death caused by Tesla’s autonomous driving system, according to Bloomberg. The incident occurred on a highway in Arizona. Jonah Story, 71, got out of her car to help direct traffic around vehicles that had collided due to the blinding sun. She was then struck at high speed by a Tesla Model Y crossover traveling in FSD mode. The victim’s daughter has filed a lawsuit against Tesla and the driver of the electric vehicle.

Attorney Dustin Birch, who represents the daughter of the deceased, confirmed the settlement to Bloomberg. He did not disclose the terms of the agreement but noted that his client is “glad to put this behind her.” A Tesla spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

Following the accident, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation to determine whether FSD poses an unacceptable safety risk. NHTSA found that in a number of accidents, the Tesla system failed to detect conditions that impaired camera visibility, right up until the moment of collision. The agency also documented instances where FSD failed to recognize reduced visibility and did not warn the driver in advance, as well as instances where it lost sight of or failed to detect the vehicle ahead. Conditions under which the system malfunctioned included bright sunlight, dust, and fog.

In April 2026, Tesla announced that it had replaced the cameras on its vehicles to resolve these issues and confirmed that it continues to cooperate with the regulator, according to Bloomberg.

Musk has called the full-scale rollout of FSD critical to Tesla's future. However, in October 2025, the company reported that only 12% of its vehicle fleet had a subscription to this service.

Since 2016, the NHTSA has opened nearly 50 special investigations into accidents involving Tesla vehicles that were allegedly linked to autonomous driver-assistance systems. In June 2026, the company faced a new lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who died in an accident involving a Tesla Model 3. According to the plaintiffs, the car was using Autopilot and failed to recognize the end of the road, causing it to crash into a house at high speed.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor