MIAMI _ A final report from the National Transportation Safety Board on the fiery racing crash that killed two Fort Lauderdale 18-year-olds in May 2018 lays most of the blame on the driver and some of it on Tesla's lithium-ion traction battery.
But the attorneys for the families of the two young men killed say Tesla, not Barrett Riley, is responsible for the removal of a speed-limiting function that had been placed on the car.
Riley and front seat passenger Edgar Monserratt Martinez died in the 1300 block of Fort Lauderdale's Seabreeze Boulevard. They were 16 days from high school graduation at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale.
"The probable cause ... was the driver's loss of control as a result of excessive speed," the report from the NTSB says. "Contributing to the severity of the injuries was the postcrash fire originating in the crash-damaged lithium-ion traction battery."
The report says the young men "died of thermal injuries." The medical examiner said Monserratt Martinez died of "a combination of thermal and blunt impact injuries."
The Riley family has sued Tesla. The lawsuit blames the battery for the fire that quickly burned both teenagers and the speed on Tesla taking the car out of "loaner" mode while it was being serviced. James Riley, Barrett Riley's father, requested that mode, which limits the car to 85 mph, after Barrett was ticketed doing 112 mph in a 50 mph zone in March 2018.
Monserratt Martinez's family has sued Tesla and the Rileys over the car's speed and Barrett Riley's driving.
As for the removal of the speed control, the NTSB said, "On April 4, 2018, employees at the dealership returned the car to normal operating mode at the request of (Barrett Riley), who was empowered to make service decisions for the vehicle."
Fort Lauderdale attorney Curt Miner, representing the Riley family said, "Empowered by who? James Riley was the owner of the car and the speed-limiting device was installed on his car at his specific request. How could Tesla possibly remove this important safety feature without even notifying him?"
When read the statement, Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Schlesinger, representing the Martinez family, said, "That sounds like a Tesla excuse. There's no way they should've done that. But for that removal, I've got two 18-year-olds alive and a passenger not ejected."
Schlesinger said the Tesla dealership could have made "a phone call! 'Hey, the kid wants to take the speed-measuring device off. Can I do that?' 'No!' 'OK, cool ...' "
The report says four surveillance cameras along Seabreeze Boulevard combined with data from the car showed Riley accelerated from 48 mph to 75 mph to pass a white car. Then, as he headed for a left-hand curve that a street sign recommends be taken at 25 mph, the report says Riley zoomed at 112 mph.
The videos lose the Tesla four seconds before the crash. Riley got to top speed, 116 mph three seconds before the crash. Just two seconds before losing control, he was still at 109 mph. The Tesla smashed into walls on either side of a residential driveway, caught fire, then hit a metal light pole before stopping.
The NTSB report says Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue got there in four minutes after the first 911 call at 6:46 p.m.
"They estimated that the interior fire was extinguished in under a minute," the report reads. "Firefighters reported that the heat from the fire was intense and that they could see electrical arcing."
