Wrongful Death Suit Filed in New Jersey for Deadly Self-Driving Tesla Crash

According to Jonathan Stempel of Insurance Journal, a wrongful death lawsuit against Tesla was filed in federal court in Camden, New Jersey last month by the estates of three people, 54-year-old David Dryerman, 54-year-old Michele Dryerman, and their 17-year-old daughter, Brooke Dryerman, who were killed in September 2024 when their Tesla Model S crashed in Autopilot mode on the Garden State Parkway. Max Dryerman, the oldest son, is also listed as a plaintiff in this case.

Stempel writes, “According to published reports, the Dryermans were returning from a music festival on September 14, 2024, when their Model S ran off the road in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, hitting a sign, guardrail and concrete bridge support.

The complaint said the car’s defective design caused it to stray from its lane of travel and fail to apply emergency braking, resulting in the crash.

It also said Tesla failed to warn David Dryerman, who was driving, that his Model S was unsafe, citing Musk’s statement in 2016 that Autopilot was ‘probably better’ than human drivers.

The Dryermans were wearing seat belts, according to the complaint.”

The complaint also reads, “Thousands of Tesla drivers have relied on Tesla’s ADAS technology as though it were capable of safe, fully autonomous self-driving with minor software updates when in fact it is incapable of safely handling a variety of routine roadway scenarios without driver input.”

As we’ve reported in previous newsletters, the safety of self-driving technology is a major point of contention, although Tesla’s stance indicates that the technology is supposed to be for “‘fully attentive’ drivers with their hands on the steering wheel, and that the features do not now make its vehicles autonomous.”

The case is titled, “Dryerman et al v Tesla Inc, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No. 25-11997,” and we will be monitoring the outcome.

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