Man sues Tesla over crash fatalities
Three in woodclife Lake Family killed
By: Kaitlyn Kanzler
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... A Woodcliff Lake [NJ] man who lost his entire family in a car crash in Woodbridge [NJ] is suing Tesla for there deaths.
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Max Dryerman's father, mother and sister were killed when the 2024 Tesla Model S they were driving in slammed into a bridge column on their way home from a concert in September 2024. Renee Litwin and Carrie Chalup, Dryerman's aunts, are part of the lawsuit. Litwin serves as the executor of the estates for Brooke and Michele Dryerman, while Chalup is the executor of David Dryerman's estate.
..... The suit, field in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in the Camden Vicinage, stated that in January 2016, Tesla and its self executive officer, Elon Musk, publicly touted the company's "autopilot" "" probably' better than a human driver." The company also claimed its vehicles were safer when in autopilot mode. Tesla also "reassured" consumers that the "autopilot" feature worked as intended despite reports of problems with safety handling and crashing into other cars and objects by accelerating without a driver doing so.
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The lawsuit said Tesla's Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems technology "intentionally and falsely implied that vehicles equipped with such software can operate autonomously with little to no driver supervision, responsibility and control, including during emergency driving situations."
..... According to the suit, the 2024 Tesla Model S included automatic emergency breaking, auto lane change, forward collision warning, side collision warning, obstacle aware acceleration, lane departure avoidance, emergency lane departure avoidance, Autosteer and full self-driving while supervised.
..... The suit claimed there have been many insistences of crashes and deaths because of "autopilot" mode and malfunctions, and Tesla's marketing led consumers to believe its cars were crash-worthy.
..... Tesla did not immediately return a request for comment.
..... Dryerman said his parents' care failed to engage any of its advertised safety features and led to the vehicle carrying hos parents and his 17-year-old sister leaving its lane and crashing into a concrete bridge pillar near mile marker 131 on the Gardner State Parkway in Woodbridge. According to the lawsuit, the "Accelerator Pedal percentage went from 0.0, with a speed of 63, to 100 without nay significant change in vehicle speed and without and reporter service break recording."
..... The lawsuit alleged that the 2024 Tesla Model S was "defective and unreasonably dangerous," holding the company liable under the New Jersey Product Liability Act as well as for the wrongful deaths of David, Michele and Brooke Dryerman.
..... Dryerman is seeking compensatory and punitive damages with interest and cost of the suit.
..... A total of nearly $200,000 was raised through a GoFundMe campaign to help Dryerman return to college and to donate to various charities in memory of his family.