{"id":105281,"date":"2026-01-04T15:27:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/105281\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T15:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:27:14","slug":"two-students-died-in-a-116-mph-crash-in-fort-lauderdale-how-much-is-tesla-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/105281\/","title":{"rendered":"Two students died in a 116-mph crash in Fort Lauderdale. How much is Tesla to blame?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tesla is 1% to blame in a Fort Lauderdale high-speed crash that killed two 18-year-old high school seniors<\/a> after a company dealership disabled the car\u2019s speed limiter without asking the parents, a Florida jury has found.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s verdict in Fort Lauderdale federal court put 90% of the blame on Barrett Riley<\/a>, the late teen who was driving over 100 mph in a 30-mph zone, and 9% on Riley\u2019s father, James Riley, who brought the lawsuit against the electric car company, the court\u2019s final judgment shows. It also found that the mother, Jenny Riley, was not at fault for the death of her son.<\/p>\n

The jurors on Monday also awarded damages in $6 million to the teen\u2019s mother and $4.5 million to the father for the pain and suffering they endured, of which Tesla would only have to pay 1% or $105,000.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first known case involving a Tesla crash that has gone to trial<\/a>, Michael Brooks, acting executive director at the Center for Auto Safety, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Teens burned to death in 116 mph crash. Here\u2019s why the driver\u2019s parents have sued Tesla<\/a><\/p>\n

The lawsuit stated the 2014 Tesla Model S never should have gone that fast or caused an inferno<\/a> that killed the two Fort Lauderdale Pine Crest High School seniors 16 days before their graduation in May 2018. James Riley, the driver\u2019s father, claimed in the suit the crash was \u201centirely survivable\u201d and that it was the ensuing fire caused by defective lithium ion batteries that killed the teenagers, but the Fort Lauderdale court dismissed that claim<\/a>, leaving the negligence claim against Tesla, the Sun Sentinel reported.<\/p>\n

\"Barrett<\/p>\n

Barrett Riley (left) and Edgar Monserratt (right).<\/p>\n

Tesla denied negligence and argued that the teen\u2019s parents were the ones who were negligent when they allowed their son to drive \u201cwhen they were aware of his history of speeding and reckless driving,\u201d The Associated Press reported citing the judge\u2019s instructions to the jury.<\/p>\n

A 2019 report<\/a> of the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the crash and post-crash fire was the \u201cdriver\u2019s loss of control as a result of excessive speed.\u201d<\/a> It also noted that the post-crash fire originating in the crash-damaged lithium-ion traction battery contributed to the severity of the injuries.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: 116 mph, fire and no speed-limiting device: Final report on Tesla crash that killed teens<\/a><\/p>\n

After Barrett Riley got a ticket for driving the Tesla at 112 mph in a 50-mph zone in March 2018, James Riley ordered a speed limiter installed, capping the vehicle\u2019s speed at no more than 85 mph. But the NTSB probe revealed that his son later asked workers at a Tesla dealership in Dania Beach to remove the speed control.<\/p>\n

Two months after getting the ticket and following the removal of the speed limiter, Riley hit triple digit speeds, with his classmate Edgar Monserratt Martinez in the front passenger seat and another teen in a back seat, according to investigators. He blew through the 1300 block of Fort Lauderdale\u2019s Seabreeze Boulevard, a 30-mph zone approaching a curve with a 25-mph advised speed.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 30 mph speed limit sign and the sign recommending the curve be taken at no more than 25 mph. The NTSB report says, as the Tesla approached the curve, driver Barrett Riley had the car at 112 mph.<\/p>\n

Authorities said Riley lost control of the Tesla, which smacked the wall in front of a home twice, burst into flames and crashed into a light pole across the street. He was going 116 mph three seconds before impact. Riley and Monserratt died and the back seat passenger was hospitalized.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Teens burned to death after 116-mph crash. Lawsuit blames Tesla for the speed and fire<\/a><\/p>\n

A Broward County civil lawsuit filed by Edgar Monserratt\u2019s family, naming Tesla and James Riley among the defendants, remains in progress.<\/p>\n

Both Riley and Monserratt\u2019s family also filed motions for Judge John Bowman\u2019s removal on the grounds of bias. Both motions were denied.<\/p>\n

Miami Herald staff writer Jay Weaver contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tesla is 1% to blame in a Fort Lauderdale high-speed crash that killed two 18-year-old high school seniors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[54352,249,251,250,54354,54350,54353,54351,3395],"class_list":["post-105281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-barrett-riley","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-high-school-seniors","tag-james-riley","tag-jenny-riley","tag-speed-limiter","tag-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}