Tesla sued by family of 20-year-old who got killed in crash last year

The family of a 20-year-old who died in a Tesla crash last year has filed a lawsuit against the firm. Nicholas Garcia and his 19-year-old passenger, Jazmin Alcala, were killed in September after their Tesla Model 3 swerved off the road, smashed into two trees, and caught fire. The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched investigators to the scene of the collision in south Florida.

The automobile was being driven at 90 miles per hour when it collided, according to early data from the agency. The collision occurred in a residential neighbourhood with a 30 mph speed restriction.

In the lawsuit, the family of Garcia alleges his Tesla Model 3 ‘had a defective and unreasonably dangerous suspension that may cause loss of control during ordinary and foreseeable driving conditions’. A legal information aggregator Plainsite previously reported on the complaint, which was filed in Florida state court earlier this month.

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Garcia’s family is also suing the service manager of Tesla Store, alleging that Garcia brought his car in for inspection four days before the tragic incident owing to difficulties with its ‘controllability/steering, suspension, battery and electronic system, and ability to open the doors’. The lawsuit accuses the service manager of ‘negligently inspecting or failing to inspect the Subject Vehicle so that defects and dangerous conditions would be discovered’. Garcia’s family is suing Tesla and the service manager for $30,000 each.

On the other hand, Tesla recalled roughly 2,800 vehicles in October due to a potential suspension problem that might increase the risk of an accident. Some Model Y cars built between March 2021 and June 2021, as well as some Model 3 vehicles built between January 2019 and April 2021, were included in the recall.

Tesla has already been sued by the relatives of crash victims in the past. The parents of an 18-year-old passenger killed in a Model S collision sued Tesla in 2019, alleging that a Tesla employee removed a speed limiter without the owner’s consent. According to a preliminary NTSB investigation, the car was driving at 116 mph around a bend when its driver attempted to pass another vehicle and lost control of the vehicle.