Tesla must pay $10.5 million to the family of 18-year-old Barrett Riley, who died in an accident while driving an electric car. Such a ruling was made by a jury in the city of Fort Lauderdale. It is informed about it by the Bloomberg agency.
The accident happened in 2018. Barrett Riley accelerated his parents’ Tesla Model S electric car to 187 km/h in an area where there was a speed limit of 40 km/h.
Photo: South Florida Sun Sentinel/CBS
The accident happened while trying to overtake another car in a corner – the cars collided and the Tesla caught fire. Barrett Riley and his passenger died at the scene.
The parents of the deceased claimed that the accident happened because Tesla had disabled the car’s speed limiter, which was set to 135 km/h, without their knowledge. During the trial it turned out that Barrett Riley did it himself, asking a mechanic he knew. Not only that, but before the accident, he had managed to earn a fine for driving at 180 km/h.
James Riley, the father of the deceased claimed in court, that after the accident he received a phone call from Elon Musk and apologized for the disabled speed limiter. However, the lawyers denied it. The jury admitted, that 90% of the fault for the accident lies on Barrett Riley, but still awarded to pay his parents $10.5 million compensation.