Florida man sues Tesla over Autopilot, crash

ORLANDO, Florida — A Florida man says the Autopilot feature of his Tesla vehicle failed to detect a disabled car on a highway, leading to a collision that left him with permanent injuries, according to a negligence lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Shawn Hudson said in the lawsuit filed in state court in Orlando, Florida, that Tesla made false statements about the autopilot safety on his Tesla Model S. It’s the second such lawsuit in as many months: A Utah driver filed a similar complaint last month.

Hudson, who lives in Orlando but has a two-hour commute to Fort Pierce for his job as the general manager of a Nissan dealership, said the autopilot feature appealed to him because he could get some work done during his commute. Hudson had his hands on the wheel as the car travelled 125 kilometres per hour, but he also was looking at his phone in the moments before his Model S slammed into the unoccupied Ford Fiesta, he said.

A Tesla spokeswoman said in an email there’s no reason to believe the Autopilot feature malfunctioned and that drivers should always maintain control of the vehicle.