A woman killed in a 2019 Florida Keys crash was "just a light" who brought joy to everyone she met, her boyfriend told jurors Thursday in a trial over whether Tesla's autopilot system is to blame for the crash.
Dillon Angulo, who was severely injured in the crash, took the stand Thursday morning to tell jurors of Naibel Benavides Leon, who was 22 and had just started dating Angulo when she was killed by George Brian McGee's speeding Tesla Model S that slammed into the Chevrolet Tahoe the young couple were standing next to.
"This loss has been devastating to me," Angulo said. "The fact that I pulled over there, that I didn't bring her back to her family, it's been very hard for me."
Angulo also told jurors of the constant pain that he lives with every day as a result of the severe injuries he suffered in the crash and the post-traumatic stress disorder he still struggles with.
"I could be doing anything, watching TV, driving my car, having a conversation, and out of nowhere, this fear comes over me, like something bad is going to happen," Angulo said. "I have to wait for it to pass."
Benavides' sister Neima Benavides also testified, telling jurors of the hole that the loss of Naibel has left in their family.
On cross-examination, Hilarie Bass of Hilarie Bass Esquire LLC, who represents Tesla, grilled both Angulo and Neima Benavides about their previous lawsuits against McGee in which they alleged McGee had recklessly operated his vehicle and blamed him for the crash. Both Angulo and Benavides said they didn't know at the time they had filed the suits that McGee had been using the Tesla's autopilot feature.
"After we learned more, we understood that we had two components in this accident: we had the driver and we had the car too," Benavides said.
Bass also pressed Angulo on large purchases he has made in recent years, including two boats and a waterfront property in Duck Key in the Florida Keys, after he sued McGee for damages for pain and suffering and medical expenses.
Benavides' family and Angulo are suing Tesla, claiming the autopilot is defective because the company allowed drivers to engage it on roads for which it was not designed, like Card Sound Road in Key Largo, where McGee was driving on the night of April 25, 2019, in his 2019 Tesla Model S. He testified on Monday that he dropped his phone and took his eyes off the road to look for it, not realizing he was fast approaching a T intersection in the road.
McGee ran a stop sign and crashed into the parked Chevrolet Tahoe, killing Benavides and seriously injuring Angulo, then 26, who were both standing next to the Tahoe.
Tesla maintains the crash was entirely McGee's fault because he was speeding and took his eyes off the road to reach down for his phone. The company said the autopilot was off at the time of the crash because McGee had put his foot on the accelerator pedal to go over the speed limit, triggering a message that the cruise control would not brake. He was driving 61 mph — well over the 45-mph speed limit — at the time of the crash.
Tesla said McGee ignored five alerts from his vehicle over 10 minutes before the crash.
But the plaintiffs argued the company overhyped autopilot's capabilities, making consumers believe it could do more than it actually could. They argued Tesla should have geofenced the autopilot software by making it available only on the limited-access highways for which it was designed and should have put in more features to monitor drivers' engagement and attentiveness.
McGee settled the lawsuits filed by Angulo and the Benavides family. He was charged in October 2019 with careless driving, which he did not contest. He was ordered to complete 16 hours of traffic school, according to court records.
The plaintiffs are seeking both compensatory and punitive damages against Tesla for the crash. Tesla is expected to begin presenting its defense Thursday as well.
The family is represented by Adam T. Boumel of the Rousso Boumel Law Firm PLLC, Brett Schreiber, Satyasrinivas M. Hanumadass and Carmela S. Birnbaum of Singleton Schreiber LLP, Todd Poses of Poses Law Group PA and Douglas F. Eaton of Eaton & Wolk PL.
Tesla is represented by Whitney V. Cruz, Wendy F. Lumish, Thomas P. Branigan, Drew P. Branigan and Joel H. Smith of Bowman and Brooke LLP and Hilarie Bass of Hilarie Bass Esquire LLC.
The case is Benavides v. Tesla Inc., case number 1:21-cv-21940, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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