Florida Man Dies in Tesla Autopilot Crash into Pond

A Florida man died after his Tesla left a road and crashed into an electrical box and plunged into a pond while operating in Autopilot mode.

The fatal crash happened at about 8.10pm last month near Tampa.

Florida Highway Patrol said an 87-year-old man was driving a Tesla Model Y when the vehicle veered off the road east of Infinite Drive before entering a nearby pond and becoming fully submerged.

Emergency crews pulled both occupants from the vehicle and took them to hospital.

The driver later died from his injuries, while a 75-year-old woman who was travelling with him survived with non-life-threatening injuries.

The Tesla was operating with Autopilot engaged at the time of the crash.

However, investigators have not explained how they determined the system was active or what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway.

The speed limit in the area is 30mph.

Officials have not said whether speed, a medical emergency, driver actions or the vehicle's systems played any role in the incident.

It is also unclear how long the Tesla remained underwater before rescue crews arrived.

The identities of the driver and passenger have not been released, and the investigation remains ongoing.

The crash has renewed attention on Tesla's driver-assistance technology, which has faced growing legal and regulatory scrutiny in recent years.

In a separate Florida case, a federal judge recently upheld a $243 million jury verdict linked to a 2019 crash involving a Tesla Model S equipped with Autopilot.

The crash happened in Key Largo and killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and seriously injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo.

Jurors awarded $200 million in punitive damages to the victims and their families.

Tesla argued during the trial that the driver alone was responsible and has said it plans to appeal the verdict.

The company has consistently maintained that Autopilot requires active driver supervision and is not designed to replace human attention behind the wheel.

The electric car maker has faced multiple lawsuits involving its driver-assistance features.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has continued to promote the future of autonomous driving technology.

"Ten years from now, probably 90% of all distance driven will be driven by the AI in a self-driving car. It will be quite a niche thing in 10 years to actually be driving your own car," Musk said during a video appearance at the Samson International Smart Mobility Summit in Tel Aviv last month.