Tesla ordered by Florida jury to pay $329 million in Autopilot crash
The payout includes $129 million of compensatory damages and $200 million of punitive damages.
Tesla was sued by the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon, and by her former boyfriend Dillon Angulo.
The lawsuit concerned an April 25, 2019 incident where George McGee drove his 2019 Model S at about 62 mph (100 kph) through an intersection into the victims' parked Chevrolet Tahoe as they were standing beside it on a shoulder.
"Tesla designed Autopilot only for controlled access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere," Brett Schreiber, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. "Today's verdict represents justice for Naibel's tragic death and Dillon's lifelong injuries."
Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Soulja Boy arrested on suspicion of weapons charge during a traffic stop
Soulja Boy was arrested early Sunday following a traffic stop on suspicion of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Soulja Boy, 35, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, was a passenger during a traffic stop at 2:35 a.m., police said, and was arrested. Way was booked into jail in the Los Angeles Police Department's Wilshire Division a little after 6 a.m., according to the sheriff department's inmate database. Additional information on what prompted the stop and who else was in the vehicle was not immediately available, police said. A representative for Way did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment. The Chicago hip-hop artist is best known for his 2007 single 'Crank That (Soulja Boy),' which went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and brought him a Grammy nomination for best rap song. The rapper was recently ordered to pay more $4 million in damages in April after being found liable for sexually assaulting and physically and emotionally abusing a former assistant.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Martin Lewis explains how to claim car finance mis-selling compensation as FCA predicts payouts worth up to £950
Financial expert Martin Lewis has advised on the next steps for drivers who were mis-sold car loans, after a financial regulator said the industry could pay out up to £18bn in compensation. The Financial Conduct Authority is launching a compensation consultation which will determine how much is paid out to millions of people who paid more interest than they knew about. A Supreme Court ruling on Friday (1 August) found that lenders are not liable for hidden commission payments in car finance schemes, a decision which means most of the claims will not go ahead, but only the most serious claims will be eligible for compensation. But many cases in a separate strand of the car finance mis-selling case, which was not part of the Supreme Court ruling, are still likely to receive payouts, Mr Lewis explained. Am I eligible for the compensation scheme? Mr Lewis explains that there are 'two strands' of the car finance mis-selling case. Discretionary Commission Arrangements (DCAs), which Mr Lewis says will be the main form of compensation to come out of the consultation, were not involved in the Supreme Court case, he said. 'The one most people have complained about wasn't involved in the Supreme Court decision, although it was on hold just in case anything in that decision caused a wobbler for DCAs,' Mr Lewis added. DCAs were banned in January 2021, so anyone with a personal contract purchase (PCP) or Hire Purchase (HP) deals before then, is likely to have unknowingly agreed to one. 'It is when you went to a car broker or dealer and it increased the amount of interest that you were charged to increase the amount of commission without telling you,' Mr Lewis explained. Those who had PCP or HP deals are 'likely to get compensation under this scheme'. But Mr Lewis notes that those who had 0 per cent interest, or whose commission was very small, are unlikely to receive compensation. But he says that for most people, the compensation will be in the hundreds of pounds. The other strand of the mis-selling case is the one element of the Supreme Court case which was upheld by the court - with the other two being dismissed. This refers to commissions which were 'manifestly unfair', Mr Lewis explained, adding that it is harder to define because it was done on a case-by-case basis. Factors in the payout may even include how vulnerable you are - and whether it is therefore seen as more unfair for the commission to have been so high. As this is done case-by-case and it is not a blanket issue like the DCA cases, it is unclear how the compensation scheme will work for these, Mr Lewis said. What should I do next? For those that are unsure whether they are eligible, Mr Lewis advises putting in a complaint to see whether you had a DCA. 'If you're one of those people who have already had a letter saying that your car finance firm, after you complained, won't deal with it until December this year, that will almost certainly be delayed until next year,' he said. The FCA is advising consumers who believe they may have paid too much should complain now, and advise against using Claims Management Firms (CMC) or law firms, which could cost up to 30 per cent of any compensation fees received. Lenders will have to contact customers, and either automatically pay out consumers or consumers will have to opt into a scheme for compensation, meaning receiving compensation will be 'very simple to do', Mr Lewis explained. Therefore, CMCs and law firms could take 30 per cent of the compensation without doing any work. Mr Lewis' money advice website MoneySavingExpert offers a free tool which will do a template complaint for you for DCAs. How much could I be compensated? The FCA estimates that most individuals making claims will receive 'less than £950 in compensation per agreement'. The final cost of a compensation scheme will depend on the final design which it takes, the FCA added in its statement earlier today. The first payments are forecast to be made in 2026. For DCA cases, the maximum you could receive is all of the commission you paid, Mr Lewis said. It is more likely you will be paid the higher interest rate you were charged minus the standard interest rate. A simple interest - meaning the interest is calculated on the original amount of the loan - of roughly 3 per cent per year will be added on top of the payout, Mr Lewis added. 'The very high likelihood is that many people who had a discretionary commission arrangement where they were charged more interest than they should have been will get back a chunk of that in the hundreds of pounds at some point in 2026,' he said. But the expert warned that the industry could 'fight this hard', before he urged industry members to accept the 'fair compromise'.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Florida man makes shock move after finding 50 pounds of cocaine in the ocean
A Florida boater made a shock move after stumbling on a massive stash of suspected cocaine floating just five miles off Islamorada - handing it over to cops instead of fleeing or pocketing the loot. The unidentified Good Samaritan spotted more than 20 tightly wrapped, black, brick-shaped packages drifting in the water on Thursday and immediately alerted authorities, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. Deputies, with help from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, swooped in and hauled the 50-pound stash ashore - a total of 23 kilos - suspected to be packed with cocaine. Photos show the suspicious bricks bobbing in the turquoise waters before they were loaded onto law enforcement vessels. Testing is still underway, but officials believe the bundles are cocaine. The haul has since been turned over to federal agents for further investigation. It's unclear whether the boater will receive a reward - or face any blowback - for getting involved. Packages of cocaine that wash ashore in Florida aren't just dangerous - they're often marked with cartel symbols, making it clear they belong to someone you don't want to cross, reports News 6. And hanging onto them isn't just risky - it's illegal. 'It should go without saying that retaining possession of (a washed-up block of drugs) is an incredibly bad idea...' Florida law firm Perlet & Shiner told News 6. 'If, for example, you intentionally retain possession of a block of drugs later valued at $100,000, you have committed grand theft in the first degree, which can carry up to 30 years in prison, plus significant fines.' He's not the only one to strike white gold. Just weeks ago, a beachgoer in the Panhandle found $500,000 worth of cocaine - part of a growing trend of drug bundles washing ashore along Florida's coast. Last year alone, authorities recovered over 180 pounds of cocaine across the state - from bricks floating near Key West to stashes buried in the sand in Volusia County. Even massive bales of marijuana have been found on beaches in Palm Beach and Neptune Beach. Experts say the phenomenon is tied to drug routes from South America, which produces about 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in North America, according to the United Nations. Smugglers use boats and small planes to ferry drugs north - and when law enforcement gets too close, they often toss the cargo overboard to avoid arrest or arrange pickup later. These floating bundles, dubbed 'blow bales,' can drift for miles, especially after storms churn the sea - just like Hurricane Debby did before last year's $1 million stash surfaced in the Keys. And it's not just humans at risk. Scientists have warned that cocaine dumped in the ocean may be affecting Florida's marine life - especially sharks, according to Live Science.
