Tesla Accident Attorney

What Makes a Tesla Accident Case Different

Most car accident claims are about driver negligence. A Tesla crash can involve that plus a second, harder question: did the vehicle itself fail? That opens a product-liability path alongside the ordinary negligence claim, and the two are proven very differently.

California recognizes strict product liability, established in Greenman v. Yuba Power Products (1963) 59 Cal.2d 57. A manufacturer can be liable for a product sold with a defect that causes injury, without the injured person having to prove the maker was careless. For a design-defect claim, California courts apply the test from Barker v. Lull Engineering Co. (1978) 20 Cal.3d 413. Three defect theories come up in Tesla cases:

• Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened multiple investigations into Tesla’s driver-assistance systems, including a 2021 Office of Defects Investigation probe into Autopilot crashes with stationary emergency vehicles. Whether the system, the driver, or both are responsible is a fact question that turns on the vehicle’s own data.
• Battery and fire. High-voltage lithium-ion packs can ignite or reignite after a crash. A fire that turns a survivable collision into a catastrophic injury raises a distinct product question.
• Vehicle event data. Teslas log detailed telemetry — speed, steering, Autopilot state, braking. Preserving that data early, before it is overwritten or the vehicle is released, is often the difference between a provable claim and a guess.

The deadline is the same two years as any California injury claim, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. The evidence work starts much sooner.

Tesla Crash Data and Investigations

Federal regulators track Tesla driver-assist crashes closely. Under NHTSA's Standing General Order, a carmaker must report a crash when a Level 2 driver-assist system such as Autopilot was in use within 30 seconds of the crash and the crash killed someone, struck a pedestrian or cyclist, deployed an air bag, or sent someone to the hospital. NHTSA has opened several investigations into Tesla's systems:

• EA22-002, opened June 2022, examined Autopilot in about 2 million vehicles. NHTSA closed it in April 2024 after Tesla's over-the-air recall 23V-838, issued in December 2023.
• RQ24-009, opened April 2024, is reviewing whether that recall fixed the problem. It remains open.
• PE24-031, opened October 2024, looked at Full Self-Driving crashes in reduced roadway visibility. In March 2026 NHTSA upgraded it to an engineering analysis, EA26-002, covering about 3.2 million vehicles.
• PE25-012, opened October 2025, is examining traffic safety violations while Full Self-Driving is engaged, across about 2.9 million vehicles.

Courts and state regulators have weighed in as well. In August 2025, a federal jury in Florida found Tesla 33% responsible for a fatal crash involving Autopilot in Benavides v. Tesla, and the verdict against Tesla came to about $243 million. The judge denied Tesla's post-trial motions in February 2026, and Tesla has appealed. In California, the DMV found in December 2025 that Tesla's "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving Capability" marketing was misleading. In February 2026 the DMV said Tesla had stopped using the "Autopilot" name in its California marketing.

Autopilot On vs Off: Who Is Liable

Autopilot and Full Self-Driving are Level 2 systems. NHTSA describes Level 2 as a system that helps with both steering and braking while the driver stays fully engaged and remains responsible for driving. That shapes how fault is decided.

If Autopilot was off, the case is an ordinary negligence claim. The question is what each driver did, and the Tesla is treated like any other car.

If Autopilot or FSD was on, the driver is still expected to watch the road and take over, so the driver is often at least partly at fault. The manufacturer may share fault if the system failed in a way a careful design would have prevented, or if Tesla's warnings or marketing led drivers to trust it too much. California uses comparative fault, so a jury can split responsibility between the driver and Tesla, as the Florida jury did in Benavides.

Battery Fires and EDR / Telematics Evidence

A damaged high-voltage battery can catch fire after a crash, sometimes well after the impact, and can reignite after it has been put out. A fire claim may need a separate investigation into where the fire started and whether the battery design or crash protection was defective.

Teslas also record detailed data: speed, braking, steering, Autopilot status and warnings in the seconds before a crash. Some is stored in the car and some may be sent to Tesla. That data can be overwritten, and insurers often send wrecked cars to salvage auctions. Send written preservation requests to Tesla and to the insurers as early as possible, and do not let the car be scrapped until the data and the battery have been inspected.

Tesla Crash Cases We Handle

These describe the kinds of matters our team handles. They are general illustrations, not results from specific client cases. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

• Autopilot rear-end collision. A Tesla on Autopilot fails to slow for stopped traffic. The case examines the vehicle log — was Autopilot engaged, did it warn the driver, did the driver have time to react — alongside the ordinary negligence questions.
• Post-crash battery fire. A moderate collision is followed by a battery fire that causes burn injuries beyond the impact itself. The claim weighs the crash against a separate product question about the battery pack.
• Passenger injured in another driver’s Tesla. A passenger or another motorist is hurt in a crash involving a Tesla’s driver-assistance feature. The recovery may involve the at-fault driver’s insurance, the manufacturer, or both.

How We Build a Tesla Accident Case

• Preserve the vehicle and its data before it is repaired, released, or overwritten.
• Pull the telemetry — Autopilot state, speed, braking, steering inputs around the crash.
• Separate the questions — what the driver did, and whether the vehicle failed.
• Bring in review where needed — accident reconstruction or engineering analysis for a defect claim.
• Value the full injury — including burn or catastrophic harm from a post-crash fire.