A New York man says he trusted Elon Musk when the billionaire claimed Teslas could drive themselves. That trust ended with a smashed car, serious injuries—and now, a lawsuit.
Ashutosh Shankar is suing Tesla after his Model Y slammed into a tree while using the company’s so-called “self-driving” technology. He says he was misled by years of bold promises from Musk and Tesla about their cars being fully autonomous.
“Tesla misrepresented its full self-driving technology,” Shankar’s attorney Robert Greenstein told The Independent. “My client was led to believe their self-driving technology was more advanced than it was. They promised full self-driving capability, but they didn’t deliver that.”
According to the lawsuit filed in Westchester County Supreme Court, Shankar bought the car in 2022 after Musk repeatedly claimed Tesla vehicles could handle the road on their own. Shankar even paid an extra $5,000 for the “Enhanced Autopilot” feature.
In September 2023, Shankar was riding in the passenger seat of his own car while it was operating in “full self-driving” mode. The car didn’t make a turn at a fork in the road. Instead, it veered off and drove straight into a tree on someone’s driveway in Bedford, New York.
The crash left Shankar with what the suit calls “serious and severe” injuries to his neck and back.
The lawsuit accuses Tesla of “years of making misleading and deceptive statements” about what their cars can actually do. It says Tesla has tricked buyers into thinking they’re getting a fully autonomous vehicle by throwing around terms like “Autopilot,” “Enhanced Autopilot,” and “Full Self-Driving Capability”—all while charging thousands extra for the features.
It also points out that Tesla has admitted its “full self-driving” cars aren’t actually self-driving. Drivers still need to steer, brake, and pay attention at all times.
The complaint slams Tesla for putting hype over safety: “Tesla knew for years that its statements regarding its ADAS technology were deceptive and misleading, but the company made them anyway,” it says. The goal, according to the lawsuit, was to boost Tesla’s image, sell more cars, raise stock prices, and avoid bankruptcy.
“On information and belief, Defendant is nowhere near being able to deliver fully self-driving vehicles,” the complaint says.
This isn’t the first time Tesla’s bold claims have ended in court. Last year, the family of a California man who died while using Tesla’s “full self-driving” mode also sued the company. Their lawyer called Tesla’s approach “research and development on our public roadways.”
That lawsuit echoed what Shankar now argues: that people believed Musk when he said Tesla’s technology was safer than human drivers—and paid the price.
Lawsuits have piled up in the U.S., Australia, and Europe. A German court in 2020 even banned Tesla from advertising its cars as “self-driving.”
Shankar’s lawsuit accuses Tesla and Musk of fraud, negligence, and unjust enrichment. He’s asking for money damages, including punitive damages and legal fees. Tesla has about three weeks to respond.
So far, the company hasn’t said a word.
