The family of a husband and wife who died when their Tesla crashed into a truck in a Florida rest stop has filed a wrongful-death suit against Elon Musk’s car company claiming that the electric vehicle ‘malfunctioned,’ causing the crash that ended the lives of their loved ones.
Mercury News reports that a wrongful death claim has been made against Tesla by the family of a California couple who were killed in a Tesla crash in July 2022. The 2015 Model S collided with a tractor-trailer rig parked at a Florida rest area, killing Mary Lou Seelandt, 66, and Karl Seelandt, 67.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils the new Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010. The new Tesla factory is the former NUMMI plant. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
California Tesla Crash (Contra Costa County Fire Protection District via AP)
Mary Lou Seelandt was driving the car “as intended and designed,” but it was “defective” and “malfunctioned,” according to the lawsuit, which was submitted last week to a federal court in Florida. The lawsuit does not specifically describe the defect, but it does state that the Model S had “crash avoidance and crash mitigation features,” which it claims did not work to avoid the accident.
Although it dispatched a team to the crash site to conduct an investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not yet released a report on the incident or determined whether any driver-assistance features were in use at the time of the wreck.
The Tesla reportedly left southbound Interstate 75 at the Paynes Prairie Rest Area just before 2:00 p.m. on July 6, 2022, according to the Florida Highway Patrol report. The Tesla veered towards the truck lot when the exit split into two lanes, eventually crashing into a parked truck. When the front of the Tesla collided with the lower edge of the trailer, its roof was crushed.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the retired Seelandts had been on a lengthy road trip during which they had attended the first birthday celebration of their granddaughter in Georgia.
The NHTSA is currently investigating Tesla cars that have collided with emergency vehicles that have been stopped on highways. The investigation is currently focused on sixteen crashes, though the fatal collision between a Tesla and a fire truck last month in California has not yet been formally included.
Read more at Mercury News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan