{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0382","record_version":1,"title":"Tesla Autopilot motorcycle crash lawsuit, State Route 522, Snohomish County, Washington (2024)","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":61.4,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":20.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":6.0,"completeness":3.2,"unhedged_language":3.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"confirmed","reason":"2 independent outlets","original_document":null,"reports_total":3,"reports_independent":2,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"confirmed","reason":"2 independent outlets"}]},"sources_hash":"a37342304972f158394da0ad5952d7adf75197f6a7f8fbeae66abe221efb5dd2"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"Tesla","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":"combination of cruise control and auto-steering","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":"2024-04-19","date_disclosed":"2026-01-11","incident_class":"other","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A Tesla Model S operating on Autopilot struck a stopped motorcycle from behind on State Route 522 in Snohomish County, Washington, on April 19, 2024. The lawsuit filed by the family of rider Jeffrey Nissen Jr. claims the system did not detect the stopped motorcycle. The driver told police he was looking at his phone and relying on Autopilot. Data cited in police and court records show the car gave two audible warnings and a visual warning because it detected no hands on the steering wheel, and that it detected a possible collision and engaged automatic emergency braking, which the driver overrode by pressing the accelerator. The lawsuit accuses Tesla of overstating Autopilot's capabilities. Tesla has not commented on the situation. The driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide and had not been criminally charged, with a charging decision still under review.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"severe","severity_because":"Safety-of-life test met: the sources state a death, of Jeffrey Nissen Jr., in the crash","harm_class":["bodily"],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://komonews.com/news/local/stanwood-family-sues-tesla-after-autopilot-fails-to-detect-motorcycle-killing-28-year-old-motorcycle-rider-lawsuit-elon-musk-fatal-crash","publisher":"KOMO","date":"2026-01-11","type":"press","title":"Family sues Tesla, says autopilot failed in fatal 2024 motorcycle crash on SR 522 - KOMO","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report","independence":"independent"},{"url":"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/family-of-wa-man-killed-by-tesla-driver-using-autopilot-sues-company/","publisher":"The Seattle Times","date":"2026-01-13","type":"press","title":"WA family sues Tesla over son’s death - The Seattle Times","archived_url":null,"independence":"independent"},{"url":"https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/tesla-faces-lawsuit-over-autopilot-after-fatal-motorcycle-crash-wa/PTBFTXPBCNHHTJ4HVQ4ZP76ILQ/","publisher":"KIRO 7 News Seattle","date":"2026-01-15","type":"press","title":"Tesla faces lawsuit over Autopilot after fatal motorcycle crash in WA - KIRO 7 News Seattle","archived_url":null}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.developer":"C","system.intended_use":"C","event.date_occurred":"C","impact.harm_class":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","context.country":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The family of a 28-year-old man has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tesla, alleging that the company's Autopilot system failed to prevent a fatal collision."}],"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":1,"quote":"Tesla’s website describes the company’s Autopilot feature as a combination of cruise control and auto-steering."}],"event.date_occurred":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The lawsuit, filed Thursday, claims that a Tesla Model S, operating on Autopilot, did not detect a stopped motorcycle, resulting in the death of Jeffrey Nissen Jr. on April 19, 2024, in Snohomish County, Washington."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The impact pinned Nissen under the vehicle, and he was pronounced dead at the scene."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The lawsuit, filed Thursday, claims that a Tesla Model S, operating on Autopilot, did not detect a stopped motorcycle, resulting in the death of Jeffrey Nissen Jr. on April 19, 2024, in Snohomish County, Washington."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The lawsuit, filed Thursday, claims that a Tesla Model S, operating on Autopilot, did not detect a stopped motorcycle, resulting in the death of Jeffrey Nissen Jr. on April 19, 2024, in Snohomish County, Washington."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The lawsuit, filed Thursday, claims that a Tesla Model S, operating on Autopilot, did not detect a stopped motorcycle, resulting in the death of Jeffrey Nissen Jr. on April 19, 2024, in Snohomish County, Washington."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The lawsuit, filed Thursday, claims that a Tesla Model S, operating on Autopilot, did not detect a stopped motorcycle, resulting in the death of Jeffrey Nissen Jr. on April 19, 2024, in Snohomish County, Washington."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Hunter, who initially expressed uncertainty about the cause of the collision, later admitted to police that he was relying on autopilot and may have been distracted by his phone."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"The Tesla gave its driver two audible warnings and a visual warning over the next two minutes because it did not detect any hands on the steering wheel, the data showed."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"According to the data, the car detected a possible collision and engaged its automatic emergency brake as it “closed the gap” with Nissen’s motorcycle, but the driver overrode it by pressing on his car’s accelerator pedal, NPR reported."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The lawsuit, filed in Snohomish County Court, accuses Tesla of overstating the capabilities of its Autopilot system and failing to address its limitations, particularly in recognizing motorcycles and other small vehicles."},{"source_index":2,"quote":"Tesla has not commented on the situation, as of this reporting."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"He was arrested for vehicular homicide and booked into the Snohomish County Jail."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"He has not been criminally charged in the crash, despite it happening nearly two years ago."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"No model version is stated; the vehicle is described only as a 2022 Tesla Model S, so system.model_version is left out. Autopilot is treated as a driver-assistance feature rather than an autonomous agent, so event.agent_involved, failure_class and secondary classes are left out. The filing date is stated only as Thursday and no disclosure or detection date is given, so those are left out. The driver's distraction is a claim and the driver's own statement, not an established cause, so event.trigger and responsible_party are left out. Deployment context, safeguard state, duration, detection method, adversarial actor, loss, third-party count, records, and reversibility are not stated. Severity 'severe' is my judgement under the safety-of-life test. Incident class 'other' is chosen because no closed value fits. Autonomy level supervised-auto is my judgement from the hands-on-wheel requirement. Only RK18 is listed as a risk. The overridden emergency braking is recorded in the timeline and story but no control is reported for it. No remediations are stated in the sources. Press dates of 2026-01-11 to 2026-01-15 are publication dates and are not used as event dates. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Confirmed (2 independent outlets)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"unknown","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"reached","text":"The rider was pinned under the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.","quote":"The impact pinned Nissen under the vehicle, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://komonews.com/news/local/stanwood-family-sues-tesla-after-autopilot-fails-to-detect-motorcycle-killing-28-year-old-motorcycle-rider-lawsuit-elon-musk-fatal-crash","https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/family-of-wa-man-killed-by-tesla-driver-using-autopilot-sues-company/","https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/tesla-faces-lawsuit-over-autopilot-after-fatal-motorcycle-crash-wa/PTBFTXPBCNHHTJ4HVQ4ZP76ILQ/"]}}