On February 12, the latest court documents revealed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had emailed a pair of parents in 2018 after their son died in a Model S car accident. In it, Musk revealed the death of his eldest son and expressed the pain of losing his son.
The emails were originally included in December 2021 in documents filed with Broward County Court, which was filed by the family of Edgar Monserratt, a crash-victim, who filed an unnatural death lawsuit against Tesla in court. Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the case are trying to persuade the judge to order Musk to accept safety inquiries about Autopilot, Tesla's driver-assisted driving feature.
In 2018, Monserrate and 18-year-old Tesla driver Barrett Riley were killed in a fatal accident in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when the latter's Model S hit a cement wall at nearly 187 kilometers per hour, killing both on the spot.
On May 10, 2018, Musk wrote in an email to Riley's father, James Riley: "There's nothing more tragic than losing a child."
In a series of emails, Musk expressed his condolences and offered to provide accident data to the families of the victims and to speak to them personally on the phone. Musk even mentioned his own pain, the death of his 10-week-old son, Nevada Alexander Musk.
In a letter to Riley, Musk also spoke about parents' concerns about young people driving Teslas, writing: "I can understand. My eldest son died in my arms, and I even felt his heartbeat. ”
Musk's son died in 2002. According to a biography of Musk written by former New York Times reporter Ashlee Vance, when Musk and his then-wife, Justine Wilson, went to wake up the baby, they found that the child was no longer breathing. The biography says the child received three days of life support treatment.
Musk told Riley he felt "very sad" when he learned of the crash. Musk wrote: "Tesla is doing everything it can to improve safety. My family, friends, and myself all drive Tesla cars, and even if they don't drive them, I do the best I can. ”
Both Monserrat and Riley's families are suing Tesla. In the Montserrat lawsuit, the indictment alleges tesla 'negligence' in causing the speed limiter requested by Barrett Riley's parents to fail and "failing to warn of the Model S's flaws."
In 2020, Riley's parents filed a product liability lawsuit against Tesla in federal court in Florida, saying that Tesla's battery "suddenly had an uncontrollable fatal fire" after the crash and that Riley "died as a result of the battery fire, not from a crash."
In the email, Musk offered to adjust the feature of giving parents control Tesla's speed. In June 2018, Tesla updated its speed limit feature, allowing drivers to set a maximum speed of 80 to 140 kilometers per hour using a password through the car app. The wording in Tesla's user manual was also reportedly updated, which the company said was in honor of Riley.
Riley's case will go to trial this year. In response to both lawsuits, Tesla denied the battery was defective and said Riley "has the right to adjust the vehicle's service or repair features."