Wrongful-Death Lawsuit Over 2018 Tesla Ends
- A wrongful-death lawsuit tied to a high-speed 2018 Tesla crash in Fort Lauderdale abruptly ended during jury selection. - The crash in 2018 killed two teens; the case was resolved Monday as jury selection was underway. - Details about terms were not reported and the abrupt resolution surprised court observers (nbcmiami.com).
Tesla settled a Florida wrongful-death lawsuit over a 2018 Fort Lauderdale crash just as jury selection began on April 20, 2026. (usnews.com) The case was brought by the family of Edgar Monserratt Martinez, an 18-year-old passenger who died when a 2014 Tesla Model S crashed and caught fire. Driver Barrett Riley, also 18, was killed, and a third teen survived after being ejected. (nbcmiami.com) Federal investigators said the car was traveling 116 miles per hour on Seabreeze Boulevard, a 30 mile-per-hour road, at 6:46 p.m. on May 8, 2018. The National Transportation Safety Board said the Tesla hit a concrete wall and a utility pole before a post-crash fire. (ntsb.gov) The lawsuit focused on a speed limiter, a setting that caps how fast a car can go. Martinez’s family alleged Barrett Riley’s parents had asked Tesla to limit the car to 85 miles per hour after a speeding ticket, and that a Tesla technician later removed that cap without the parents’ consent. (electrek.co) That claim made this case different from the Tesla crash lawsuits centered on Autopilot or Full Self-Driving. Reuters reported the Florida trial was set to test whether Tesla bore responsibility for service work tied to the disabled speed limiter, not for an automated driving feature. (usnews.com) Another branch of litigation from the same crash had already gone Tesla’s way. In March 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a ruling for Tesla in a separate case over the Model S battery design and post-crash fire. (wusf.org) Court filings showed Tesla was removed as a defendant before opening statements, but the settlement terms were not disclosed publicly. Local television reporters in Fort Lauderdale said the resolution came so suddenly that it surprised people in the courtroom. (nbcmiami.com) The trial against Tesla is over without a verdict, nearly eight years after the crash on Seabreeze Boulevard. What remains on the public record is the same core fact investigators found in 2018: the Model S entered the curve at 116 miles per hour. (ntsb.gov)
