Key West Injury Lawyer Blog
After a three-week-long trial, a Miami jury awarded $242.6 million to the families affected by a deadly 2019 crash in the Florida Keys.
The jury deliberated for about seven hours, according to reporting from The Miami Herald, and decided Tesla’s Autopilot system was partially responsible. As a result, the world-renowned company will be forced to pay $200 million in punitive damages and $42.6 million in compensatory damages to the surviving family members of Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, and her boyfriend, 33-year-old Dillon Angulo.
In the years since the technology was first launched, statements have been made about Tesla S’s ability to stop itself or avoid road obstacles in its path with little to no driver assistance. Angulo and the Benavides Leon family’s attorneys argued that the company was making false claims about its Autopilot system.
Tesla’s attorneys said in court that data showed the driver, 48-year-old George McGee, was on the phone for 13 minutes, varying in speed in the minutes before the crash. The company’s attorneys told jurors during the trial that if the car reaches above a certain speed limit, it will override the Autopilot function and that drivers must maintain their hands on the steering wheel at all times.
This notable verdict is the first time a jury has found Tesla’s Autopilot system culpable in a trial.
McGee has been sued separately.
The Accident
Benavides Leon died in the April 2019 crash while Angulo was left with massive internal and external injuries. It happened just after 9 p.m. when the two were stopped off the shoulder of Card Sound Road near the north end of Key Largo.
McGee ran a stop sign at 62 mph while on his way to the Ocean Reef Club. The speed limit in that area is 45 mph.
McGee had allegedly dropped his cellphone and was rooting around on the floor of the car in search of it when he hit the couple, the force of which threw Benavides Leon 80 feet into the woods.
“We did it for Naibel; she would be proud that we stood up and did everything in our power to help shine a light on everything that is happening with these cars,” Angulo told reporters following the trial.
Leesfield & Partners
Leesfield & Partners is a personal injury law firm with nearly five decades of experience handling the cases of motor vehicle accident victims and their grieving families. Whether due to negligent or impaired drivers, vehicle defects, faulty road construction or another cause, our attorneys diligently work toward the best possible outcome in every case.
While fully autonomous vehicles may sound like a science fiction fantasy, the reality of them is far closer than one might think. In Miami, where the law firm is headquartered, companies like Waymo, the Ford-backed Argo AI and Amazon’s Zoox, are allegedly conducting testing with the aim for full, driverless rides. Tesla’s controversial CEO, Elon Musk, has previously revealed plans for to release “robotaxis” in the company’s Model Y, meaning that customers could potentially catch fully autonomous rides.
This rapidly approaching reality of driverless technology keeps attorneys on their toes — and may soon force lawmakers to adapt just as quickly as the technology itself evolves.
Trial Attorney Eric Shane recently published an article discussing the legal complexities involves with autonomous vehicles.
“In cases involving fully autonomous vehicles, traditional Florida law no longer applies,” Mr. Shane said in the article.
Per Florida law, liability for any injuries that occur when a vehicle’s automated driving system is engaged may ultimately fall on the vehicle’s owner or manufacturer. A failure of the automated system can result in plaintiff’s attorneys making product liability claims, which would involve demonstrating that the system was defective and this error directly contributed to the crash.
“In theory, it would appear that proving liability in an autonomous vehicle crash is easier for the plaintiff,” Mr. Shane wrote in the article. “Our firm’s 48 years of experience representing plaintiffs in thousands of negligence and strict liability lawsuits tells a different story.”
Leading Results Throughout Florida
Leesfield & Partners attorneys have regularly secured numerous record verdicts and settlements for injured clients throughout Florida. Among those verdicts is the largest verdict in Miami-Dade County history for a motor vehicle accident and the fourth-largest of its kind in the state.
That case involves the tragic death of a family’s daughter and the catastrophic injury to their son at the hands of a reckless drunk driver who was speeding down the wrong side of I-95. The family was on their way to the airport to drop off their daughter, 23, for a flight to attend her medical school’s orientation. She died as a result of the collision.
Their son sustained life-altering injuries and was left unable to speak, needing a wheelchair, and requires round-the-clock care. This driver’s careless and negligent actions changed the lives of this unwitting family forever after he was overserved at a popular Miami bar.
At trial, a jury awarded over $95 million to the family — $57 million of which would go to the son and the remaining $38 million to the parents.
Previous Cases
Partner Justin B. Shapiro previously represented a family in a wrongful death motor vehicle case involving a pedestrian. A verdict of over $36 million was obtained for the family in that case.
In a motor vehicle accident involving negligent road construction, Leesfield & Partners attorneys obtained over $29 million for the injured clients.
Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, obtained a $19.8 million verdict against Honda in a design defect case involving a motorcycle kickstand. In that case, our client was in the middle of a ride when the kickstand deployed and caused his motorcycle to spin out of control. He was paralyzed as the result of this violent collision.
This was the start of litigation against multiple manufacturers involving the same dangerous design defect handled by Mr. Leesfield on behalf of injured clients.
A $15.4 million recovery was obtained for a Fort Lauderdale handyman who was injured as a backseat passenger in a high-speed motor vehicle accident. The man in that case was in a car that was stopped at a drawbridge when another car hit it from behind, causing skull fractures, frontal lobe brain damage and facial fractures.
As a result of his injuries, our client developed a seizure disorder that could not be controlled by medication. This ended the then-22-year-old’s career as a handyman in the area.
Leesfield & Partners previously represented the families of three teenage girls after they were struck by a commercial truck driver making an illegal U-turn on the turnpike. The girls in that case were on their way to the library when the driver turned directly into their path. Tragically, one girl was killed and the other two sustained serious injuries.
Our attorneys worked tirelessly to settle the case for over $8.6 million for the families. The firm also obtained an over $7.6 million arbitration award for the family who lost their daughter.
In the case of a woman who was walking back to her office following a midday break, Mr. Shapiro secured the maximum recoverable amount set forth in the defendant’s insurance policy limits. The woman was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk when a pickup truck driver made an illegal left turn, claiming to not have seen her. Injuries to our client included skull fractures and brain hemorrhages in addition to injuries to her left leg.
A $6 million settlement was secured for the client in that case.
In another pedestrian-involved case, Leesfield & Partners obtained a $2.9 million recovery our client who was injured due to a driver’s negligence.
The firm settled a pedestrian case in which our client was hit while walking on the sidewalk by a driver who was distracted by a cellphone. That case was resolved with a $1.5 million settlement.
In a tragic, fatal pedestrian case, Leesfield & Partners secured over $1.3 million for a driver’s negligence.
A child who was crossing the street suffered a traumatic brain injury after a driver hit him. In that case, Leesfield & Partners secured a $1.2 million settlement for the Fort Lauderdale family.
Bernardo Pimentel II, a Trial Attorney at the firm, secured a $1 million recovery for a family involved in a fatal car crash at the hands of a negligent driver.
Mr. Shane recently obtained a confidential amount for a young passenger who was injured in a severe Florida crash.
Mr. Pimentel obtained a confidential settlement for a family whose young son was severely injured when a car slammed through a Florida discount store’s windows.
Trial Attorney Evan Robinson secured a six-figure settlement for a client injured in a Monroe County crash.
In an ongoing case, Carlos A. Fabano, a Trial Attorney at the firm, is representing a pedestrian who was severely and permanently injured by a negligent driver.
