Singleton Schreiber was recently featured in the Reuters article, "Tesla Fails to End Florida Lawsuit Over Fatal Model S Crash" which was published on June 27th, 2025.
The article highlights U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom's decision in Miami to deny Tesla's dismissal attempt, allowing the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon (who passed) and Dillon Angulo (who was injured) to pursue punitive damages against Tesla. This ruling stems from a 2019 incident where an Autopilot-equipped Model S collided into their vehicle.
In her decision, Judge Bloom found sufficient evidence that Autopilot defects were a "substantial factor" in the injuries. She noted that while the driver conceded unsafe driving, he was not automatically solely responsible, particularly given his testimony that he expected Autopilot to avoid the collision. The failure to warn claim also survived, citing the difficulty of extracting Autopilot's risks from the owner's manual on Model S touchscreens.
The case, Benavides v Tesla Inc. (U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, No. 21-21940), has a trial scheduled for July 14. Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, has consistently maintained that its Autopilot features are intended for "fully attentive" drivers holding the steering wheel and do not render its vehicles autonomous.
