Tesla claimed that all of its vehicles possessed “all the hardware necessary” to be self-driving years ago. But since then, the automaker has been embroiled in cases of injuries and deaths related to self-driving architecture. Most recently, Tesla settled out of court in a lawsuit blaming a Model Y for a wrongful death due to sudden acceleration. It is, however, far from the only wrongful death accusation faced by Tesla. 

Years after an Ohio man died in a burning Tesla, the automaker is settling a wrongful death lawsuit after blaming the deceased

In 2021, Clyde Leach was driving his Tesla Model Y near Dayton, Ohio. That was moments before his electric SUV reportedly “accelerated suddenly” and crashed into a support column at a gas station. The Model Y erupted into flames with the 72-year-old still inside. Tragically, Leach died of his trauma and burns.   

That was around four years ago. Now, Leach’s estate lawyers settled the resultant wrongful death lawsuit, per Reuters. When the lawsuit first reached Tesla’s legal team, they denied any wrongdoing. Worse yet, Tesla blamed the incident on Leach for his fatal crash. Tesla claimed Leach’s Model Y was “state-of-the-art,” and that it “was not defective in design or manufacture.”

Still, Leach’s estate lawyers asserted that the Tesla Model Y was to blame in the lawsuit. “Tesla was aware that its vehicles– including the Model Y– have reportedly on hundreds of occasions accelerated suddenly and without explanation,” the lawyers claimed. With both sides at something of an impasse, the case was set for a jury trial this time next year. However, before Leach’s estate lawyers could take the automaker to court, Tesla settled. That said, the court documentation doesn’t detail any dollar amount. 

Despite Tesla’s objections, this isn’t an isolated incident. Tesla’s Autopilot feature is reportedly responsible for at least 13 fatal crashes in the United States. According to the NHTSA, earlier iterations of the Autopilot feature represented a “critical safety gap.” The NHTSA also opened a probe into Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) system after one of the brand’s vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian. 

In another high-profile incident, an Apple engineer died when his Model X speared off a San Francisco highway while operating with Autopilot. While that was a 2018 case, Tesla similarly settled out of court to put the issue to bed.