GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The family of a California couple killed when the Tesla car they were traveling in crashed into a semi-truck off Interstate 75 has retained lawyers to represent them.
Morgan & Morgan attorneys Mike Morgan and Josh Moore will represent the family members in the July 6 crash at an I-75 rest stop south of Gainesville, the law firm said in a news release.
The family's decision comes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, confirmed it was launching a "special crash investigation" into what led up to the deadly crash. The federal agency last month announced it was expanding an existing investigation into Tesla's Autopilot active driver assistance system.
Troopers say the semi-truck, driven by a 58-year-old man from Ruskin, Florida, was parked in the southbound rest area parking lot. The Tesla entered the lot and somehow crashed into the back of the semi.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol crash report, a 66-year-old woman who was driving the Tesla car died at the scene of the crash. Her passenger, a 67-year-old man, also was killed. Both were from Lompoc, California.
Investigators cannot yet say what factors contributed to the crash.
"At this early point of our traffic homicide investigation, we don’t know if the crash was caused by: the vehicle being on Auto Pilot, was driver error, or possibly a medical issue. But over the next several months & after a very thorough investigation of this incident we will have a lot more facts to conclude what caused and or influenced this crash," FHP spokesperson Lt. Patrick Riordan wrote in an email.
"We are in the very early stages of our investigation to determine what caused this deadly collision and have requested Tesla preserve all evidence related to this matter. We are awaiting the crash report as well as audio and video that were recorded in the collision, which will provide us with a clear picture of what happened," Morgan & Morgan said in a statement, in part.
Through June 8, 2022, the NHTSA identified 16 crashes involving Teslas hitting other vehicles parked at first responder scenes. Of those, 15 people were hurt and one death was reported.
The agency's broader investigation explores how the company's Autopilot feature might increase the risk of a crash that happens after a driver stops paying attention to the road, according to Consumer Reports.
"NHTSA is right to step up its safety investigation into Tesla’s driver-assist systems," William Wallace, the associate director of safety policy at Consumer Reports said in a statement. "If it’s foreseeable that some part of a car’s design increases the risk of a crash, then the manufacturer needs to fix the car right away.
"The company can rework how a feature operates, or add safeguards like an effective driver monitoring system, or do some combination of both—but it must take action. And if the company doesn’t address the problem voluntarily, NHTSA should force them to do so."
10 Tampa Bay has reached out to Tesla for comment, but has yet to hear back.
