Nearly four years after the incident, James Riley filed a lawsuit against Tesla over product liability in federal court in Florida after his son was killed in a previous accident. In order to commemorate the bereaved and prevent the recurrence of similar tragedies, Tesla added a "speed limit" function in Tesla cars shortly after.
High school students speeding two people tragically died
In May 2018, a serious traffic accident involving a Tesla Model S occurred in Broward County, Florida, where 18-year-old high school driver Barrett Riley and his partner Edgar Monserrat were killed.
At the time of the incident, Barrett Riley, driving his father's Tesla Model S, crashed into the external concrete wall of a house at a speed of 116 miles per hour (about 187 km/h), and then the vehicle caught fire and killed two people inside the car.
In response, Riley Jr.'s father sued tesla for product liability. He believes Tesla's batteries had an uncontrollable fire after the accident, "Barrett Riley died of a battery fire, not an accident." ”
In addition, the indictment also shows that Riley asked Tesla to install speed limiter equipment in the car two months before the accident to protect his son's safety, but then the function was removed when it was sent to Tesla for repair, and it was not approved by the elder Riley.
It is reported that two months before the incident, Riley Jr. received a speeding ticket of 112 mph (about 180 km/ h). Riley Sr. believes that without Tesla's negligence, the speed limiter would have prevented accidents.
In this regard, Tesla denied that its battery design was flawed. For the speed limit to be dismantled, the company said that It was Riley Jr. himself who returned to the service center and said that he was "worried about the acceleration performance of the vehicle" and asked for the speed limiter to be removed.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has accepted the case and is scheduled to officially open this year.
To avoid tragedy, Musk launched the "speed limit function"
In fact, less than 24 hours after the accident, Musk emailed his father, James Riley, to express his condolences. Musk expressed understanding for the grief of the loss of his beloved son by the elder Riley, "My eldest son also died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat." Musk's first son, Alexander Musk, died at 10 weeks.
Soon after, Musk met Riley Sr.'s request to adjust the car's system function so that parents could control Tesla's top speed and avoid a recurrence of the tragedy.
In June 2018, Tesla released an OTA push with speed limiting features that allow drivers to set the vehicle's top speed between 50 mph and 90 mph (between about 80-145 km/h) via a four-digit PIN in the Tesla Auto app or user safety interface.
At the same time, the manual has also been updated to indicate that the feature is dedicated to the memory of Barrett Riley.
In response, the elder Riley wrote to Musk: "I have never asked for any recognition in my life, but it is gratifying to see that the loss of Little Riley and Monserrate can strengthen the safety of others." ”
Write at the end
Technological progress is like a balance, with convenience and pleasure at one end and security and stability at the other. A good design is to keep groping and striking a balance between the two, but there may be some surprises or even losses in between.
But it's gratifying that there are companies like Tesla that are willing to try and push for continuous technological advancement.
In conclusion, we hope that every future progress will no longer come at the cost of life.