Tesla said it didn't have key data in a fatal crash. Then a hacker found it.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

WP EXCLUSIVE
Tesla said it didn't have key data in a fatal crash. Then a hacker found it.


Dillon Angulo, 33, at the site in Key Largo, Florida, where a Tesla driver using Autopilot killed his girlfriend, Naibel Benavides Leon, and left him catastrophically injured in 2019. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/For The Washington Post)

The critical evidence was presented last month to a jury, which found the company partially liable for the 2019 crash in Key Largo, Florida.

Today at 6:05 a.m. EDT

By Trisha Thadani and Faiz Siddiqui

Years after a Tesla driver using Autopilot plowed into a young Florida couple in 2019, crucial electronic data detailing how the fatal wreck unfolded was missing. The information was key for a wrongful death case the survivor and the victim's family were building against Tesla, but the company said it didn't have the data.

{snip}

By Trisha Thadani
Trisha Thadani joined The Washington Post's technology team in 2023 from the San Francisco Chronicle. Reach her on Signal @trishathadani.08follow on X@TrishaThadani
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/trisha-thadani/

By Faiz Siddiqui
Faiz Siddiqui is a technology reporter with The Washington Post's Business Desk covering companies such as Tesla and Twitter. His area of coverage has also included ride-hailing and the race to build autonomous cars. Prior to that, he covered the D.C. Metro and local transportation scene.follow on X@faizsays
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/faiz-siddiqui/

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/08/29/tesla-autopilot-crashes-evidence-testimony-wrongful-death/

[FakeNoose]

1. Oh my gosh ... was Tesla really lying?

[2naSalit]

3. Again?

[kerouac2]

2. So a hacker got the data from a company

A company who was also given access to all the data in the US on everyone.

What could possibly go wrong.

[not fooled]

4. Was the data in with our Social Security numbers?

Oh, wait...Eloon doesn't care if the Social Security numbers get hacked.

[Stargazer99]

5. Corp are people? then make them vulnerable as a living human for lack of morals by killing people with their product

Nothing like a 2 tiered system of justice. I am so damn sick and tired as worshiping business like a god

[edhopper]

6. Musk says his AI will be the best

for autonomous vehicles because of all the Data Tesla has. Except for the crucial stuff like this.

[republianmushroom]

7. Lying corporations.

Now the world knows Tesla lies. They cannot be trusted for what they say.

[nilram]

8. I guess LBN has strict rules.

Does it require the biographic info on the reporters now? It seems superfluous to use up half of the four-paragraph rule on info that's not relevant to the story.

[JoseBalow]

9. I got more info from the thread title than from the post

Last edited Fri Aug 29, 2025, 02:16 PM - Edit history (1)