{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0434","record_version":1,"title":"Snohomish County motorcyclist killed in crash involving Tesla Autopilot (lawsuit filed by family)","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":46.0,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":3.0,"completeness":2.56,"unhedged_language":5.0},"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":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: KOMO News · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":1,"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":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: KOMO News · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"ab7df6a558c8223048170ac70f337ff55275e224805b16ef402e66433b2bd0fd"},"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":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-02-02","incident_class":"physical_safety","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A Tesla operating on Autopilot collided with a motorcyclist on State Route 522 in Snohomish County in April 2024, killing Jeffrey Nissen Jr., 28. The family's lawsuit alleges that the Autopilot feature failed to detect him or the change in traffic, and accuses Tesla of continuing to release the software despite known safety risks. Initial reports said the Tesla's driver was distracted by his cell phone; he was initially arrested, but no criminal charges have been filed. Tesla did not respond to press requests for comment, and the allegations have not been tested in court. The reporting presents the family's claims as allegations.","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 crash claimed the life of a person, according to the sentence quoted.","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/snohomish-county-family-sues-tesla-after-son-killed-in-autopilot-crash-lawsuit-elon-musk-fatal-crash-trap-software-test-danger-community-safety-damages-million-glitch-road-highway-traffic-commute","publisher":"KOMO","date":"2026-02-02","type":"press","title":"Snohomish County family sues Tesla after motorcyclist son killed in Autopilot crash - KOMO","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report","independence":"independent"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.developer":"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 Nissen family's lawsuit accuses Tesla of continuing to release its Autopilot software despite known safety risks."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Jeffrey Nissen Jr., 28, was riding his motorcycle on State Route 522 in Snohomish County in April 2024 when a Tesla, operating on Autopilot, collided with him, crushing him beneath his bike."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"In the lawsuit filed in January, Nissen's family alleges that the Autopilot feature failed to detect Nissen or the change in traffic, leading to the fatal crash."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A Snohomish County family is taking legal action against Tesla after an accident involving the car's Autopilot feature claimed the life of their son."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"A Snohomish County family is taking legal action against Tesla after an accident involving the car's Autopilot feature claimed the life of their son."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Jeffrey Nissen Jr., 28, was riding his motorcycle on State Route 522 in Snohomish County in April 2024 when a Tesla, operating on Autopilot, collided with him, crushing him beneath his bike."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"In the lawsuit filed in January, Nissen's family alleges that the Autopilot feature failed to detect Nissen or the change in traffic, leading to the fatal crash."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The Nissen family's lawsuit accuses Tesla of continuing to release its Autopilot software despite known safety risks."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Initial reports indicated that he was distracted by his cell phone when the vehicle lurched forward."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Although he was initially arrested for the crash, no criminal charges have been filed at this time."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Tesla did not respond to KOMO's request for comment."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The sources describe a lawsuit's allegations, not established findings. The Autopilot feature is a driver-assistance system; no source states it was an autonomous agent, so agent_involved, failure_class and autonomy_level are left out. No source states the model name, version, harness, deployment context or lifecycle stage. Root cause, trigger and detection method are not established: the failure to detect is only alleged, and the driver distraction is from initial reports. No controls were stated as held, failed or missing, and no remediation was reported. The lawsuit's filing year is not stated (only January). The date of disclosure is not stated, and the article date is not used as one. Country is not stated explicitly; the location (Snohomish County, State Route 522, Seattle dateline) was not converted to an ISO code. Severity 'severe' is my judgement under the safety-of-life test, based on the stated death. Reversibility, record counts and third-party counts are not stated and were left out. [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: Preliminary (1 report: KOMO News · subject to change)]"},"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":"doing","text":"A Tesla operating on Autopilot was involved in a collision with a motorcyclist on State Route 522.","quote":"Jeffrey Nissen Jr., 28, was riding his motorcycle on State Route 522 in Snohomish County in April 2024 when a Tesla, operating on Autopilot, collided with him, crushing him beneath his bike.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"The family alleges the Autopilot feature failed to detect the motorcyclist or the change in traffic.","quote":"In the lawsuit filed in January, Nissen's family alleges that the Autopilot feature failed to detect Nissen or the change in traffic, leading to the fatal crash.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"reached","text":"The crash killed the motorcyclist, Jeffrey Nissen Jr.","quote":"A Snohomish County family is taking legal action against Tesla after an accident involving the car's Autopilot feature claimed the life of their son.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"The family sued Tesla, alleging it kept releasing the software despite known safety risks.","quote":"The Nissen family's lawsuit accuses Tesla of continuing to release its Autopilot software despite known safety risks.","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/snohomish-county-family-sues-tesla-after-son-killed-in-autopilot-crash-lawsuit-elon-musk-fatal-crash-trap-software-test-danger-community-safety-damages-million-glitch-road-highway-traffic-commute"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Crash on State Route 522 in which a Tesla operating on Autopilot collided with the motorcyclist.","quote":"Jeffrey Nissen Jr., 28, was riding his motorcycle on State Route 522 in Snohomish County in April 2024 when a Tesla, operating on Autopilot, collided with him, crushing him beneath his bike.","source_index":0,"when":"April 2024"}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://komonews.com/news/local/snohomish-county-family-sues-tesla-after-son-killed-in-autopilot-crash-lawsuit-elon-musk-fatal-crash-trap-software-test-danger-community-safety-damages-million-glitch-road-highway-traffic-commute"]}}