According to multiple reports, a Tesla driver in Florida recently died when his vehicle, which was using the company’s Autopilot feature, left the road and crashed into a pond.
Local TV stations Fox 13 Tampa and CBS Tampa 10 reported that the crash happened around 8:10 p.m. on May 26 in Tampa.
Florida Highway Patrol investigators said an 87-year-old man was driving a Tesla Model Y when the vehicle left the road, struck an electrical box, and went into a pond, where it submerged. The speed limit in the area is 30 mph.
Emergency responders transported both occupants of the Tesla to the hospital. The driver later died, while a 75-year-old female passenger survived with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to the Highway Patrol, the vehicle was operating in autopilot mode; However, officials have not explained how this decision was taken or what could have been the reason for abandoning the roadway. The investigation is still ongoing and authorities have not released the identities of those involved.
Additionally, the Highway Patrol has not said whether speed, medical conditions or system behavior may have contributed to the crash. Additionally, it is unclear how long the vehicle remained submerged before rescuers arrived.
USA TODAY contacted the Florida Highway Patrol for additional details on the accident and its Autopilot determination, and contacted Tesla for comment. No one responded till 28 May.
Former Tesla Autopilot case sheds light on legal investigation
The Florida crash comes as Tesla faces legal scrutiny over its Autopilot system.
In a separate case reported by Reuters, a federal judge recently upheld a $243 million jury verdict involving an Autopilot-equipped Tesla Model S crash in 2019 in Florida. That crash killed a 22-year-old woman and seriously injured her boyfriend when one of the vehicles went through an intersection in Key Largo.
U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom ruled the evidence “more than supports” the jury’s findings, assigning partial responsibility to Tesla after George McGee drove his 2019 Model S through an intersection and crashed into an SUV parked on the shoulder. Jurors awarded $200 million in punitive damages to two people, including Naibel Benavides Leon and Dillon Angulo, who died in the crash. The jury determined that the Autopilot system played a role as well as the driver’s behavior in the fatal crash.
During testing, Tesla argued that the driver should bear full responsibility. The company, which said it plans to appeal, has said its vehicles are not designed to make drivers reckless and Autopilot needs supervision.
Tesla has faced numerous lawsuits related to its driver-assistance systems, although many of the lawsuits have been settled or dismissed before trial. CEO Elon Musk has long promoted the company’s autonomous driving capabilities as central to its future.
“Ten years from now, probably 90% of all distances traveled will be driven by AI in a self-driving car. It will be quite typical to actually drive your own car in 10 years,” Musk said during a video appearance at the Samson International Smart Mobility Summit in Tel Aviv on May 18.
NHTSA investigation into Tesla’s full self-driving software
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initially announced an investigation into Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) software in October 2024, and expanded its investigation on March 19. NHTSA expanded the parameters of its investigation to include more cars and potential incidents involving software.
NHTSA said the expanded investigation covers about 3.2 million cars and six more potentially related crashes that were not covered in its initial 2024 investigation. The agency’s initial investigation covered 2.4 million Tesla vehicles and referred to seven potentially related crashes.
According to NHTSA, the now-expanded investigation allowed the agency’s regulators to gather more information about Tesla’s updated visibility degradation detection system — a safety feature designed to monitor environmental conditions.
“Available incident data raises concerns that Tesla’s fall detection systems, both originally deployed and later updated, fail to appropriately detect and/or warn the driver under low visibility conditions such as glare and airborne obscuration,” the agency said.
NHTSA said in the crashes its fault investigation office reviewed, Tesla’s FSD system “did not detect normal road conditions that would impair camera visibility and/or provide an alert when camera performance degraded until just before a crash occurred.”
In April, NHTSA ended the investigation after finding that it was linked to only two low-speed crashes, Reuters reported. The agency also concluded that the facility was primarily associated with low-speed incidents that resulted in minor property damage, with about 100 accidents reported that resulted in no injuries or fatalities.
Based on its findings, the agency stated that no further action was required due to the low frequency and severity of the incidents.
Contributing: Reuters and Keith Lang/USA TODAY
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at (email protected), or x@athompsonUSAT