Justine Saint Amour, a Texas Cybertruck owner, has filed a lawsuit against Tesla seeking more than $1 million following a crash into a concrete barrier while the vehicle was using Autopilot. The incident occurred in August 2025 on the I-69 Eastex Freeway in Houston, approaching a Y-shaped overpass. The suit alleges negligence and gross negligence in the design, testing, marketing, and warnings for Tesla's driver-assistance systems.
Justine Saint Amour purchased her Cybertruck in February 2025 equipped with Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) capability package. According to the lawsuit filed in Harris County district court, the vehicle was traveling on the I-69 Eastex Freeway approaching the 256 Eastex Park and Ride while in Autopilot mode. The overpass splits in a Y-shape, requiring traffic to veer right, but the Cybertruck continued straight toward a concrete barrier, resulting in a collision.
Saint Amour attempted to disengage Autopilot and take control of the steering wheel but was unable to avoid the impact. The complaint does not specify the vehicle's speed, airbag deployment, extent of injuries, or repair costs, though it seeks over $1 million in damages.
"Elon Musk is an aggressive and irresponsible salesman," Saint Amour stated, "who has a long history of making dangerous design choices, and overpromising features of his products." The suit accuses Tesla of negligent and grossly negligent conduct, including failures in design and marketing of Autopilot and FSD systems. Specific allegations include the lack of effective automatic emergency braking for the scenario, absence of LiDAR technology, inadequate warnings and instructions about limitations, and misleading branding that overstates capabilities despite the owner's manual requiring constant driver attention.
The filing also claims negligent hiring and retention practices involving CEO Elon Musk, tying his product involvement to unsafe outcomes. Saint Amour, represented by Hilliard Law, expects Tesla to properly design, test, market, inspect, repair, and recall the Cybertruck.
This case adds to ongoing legal scrutiny of Tesla's driver-assistance features. In December, a judge ruled the company's marketing deceptive—a decision Tesla is appealing. Separately, a federal court upheld a $243 million jury verdict over a fatal 2019 Autopilot crash in Florida.
The case is in an early procedural phase, with Tesla yet to publicly respond. Proceedings will determine liability between driver error, system limitations, or design and marketing issues.
