> That's not how it works. You sue the driver, if they have insurance the insurance company steps in, after paying you out the insurance company can go after tesla.

That's...not how it works.

Anyone injured as a result of a defective product has a claim against the manufacturer and anyone else in the chain of commerce. You don't have to sue someone else and let them sue the manufacturer.

(You can, but you don't have to, and its a complicated tactical consideration as to whether it is optimal in any particular case, further complicated by the fact that you can also sue everyone who might be liable at once, instead of picking and choosing who is best to sue.)

That's best if your goal is to get your car fixed and (hopefully none) medical bills paid. That's not likely to result in Tesla paying anything and certainly not in Tesla changing behavior.

If you want to go for the giant settlement from Tesla, that's a different lawsuit, much higher-risk, much more expensive and much higher reward (financially, media attention and changing behavior).

If that's not how it works we'd still have Pintos and Corvairs on the streets. Companies can be held responsible for defective products no matter how much they want the shift the blame to someone else.