The family of a Florida man who died as a passenger in a Tesla Model S sedan is suing the company, claiming that the battery was defective and that the company was negligent by removing a speed limiter that the owner programmed into the vehicle.
According to the lawsuit, which you can read in its entirety here, Edgar Monserratt’s 18-year-old son was a passenger in the Model S traveling at a high rate of speed (over 115 mph) when it hit a light pole. The car caught fire and Monserratt’s son died.
The wrinkle here is that the driver, Barrett Riley, was previously ticketed in the same Tesla on a Florida highway for doing 112 mph. After that, his parents installed the speed limiter to keep the car under 85 mph.
Later, the car went in for service and the limiter was removed by the technician, “without the permission or knowledge of Riley’s parents.”
Monserratt is arguing that Tesla was negligent in removing the limiter and that the car itself was unreasonably dangerous.
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