Tesla’s Autopilot system is in the spotlight at a Miami trial over a student killed while stargazing
July 14, 2025
A federal court in Miami began considering Monday whether Elon Musk’s car company should share blame for the death of a stargazing university student after a runaway Tesla sent her flying 75 feet through the air and severely injured her boyfriend. The jury trial is a rare one for Tesla and runs big risks. Tesla can ill afford a hit to its reputation as it seeks to put hundreds of thousands of self-driving Teslas on U.S. roads by the end of next year. Tesla blames the driver who reached for a dropped cell phone before the crash. Plaintiff lawyers say the company’s Autopilot technology failed and also is to blame.