What happened the night of the crash: GEORGE BRIAN MCGEE was driving a Tesla in Key Largo on autopilot. He’d been on the phone with an airline’s customer service when he dropped his phone, then reached down to get it.

Mr. Musk has said on many occasions since Autopilot was rolled out in 2015 that the system is much safer than human drivers and has claimed that Tesla’s technology was close to being able to pilot cars with no driver. Tesla uses the name Full Self-Driving for an advanced version of Autopilot, although it still requires drivers to remain attentive.

The case is the first suit related to fatal crashes involving the electric vehicle company’s Autopilot system to go to trial.