Summary
A California state court jury has ruled in favor of Tesla on Friday, finding that the company’s Autopilot feature did not fail to perform safely in a crash involving a Tesla Model S, reports Reuters.
This verdict is seen as an important win for Tesla as it continues to develop and roll out its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems, which have faced regulatory and legal scrutiny.
Justine Hsu filed the lawsuit in 2020, claiming that her Tesla Model S swerved into a curb while on Autopilot, deploying an airbag that caused her serious injuries, including a fractured jaw, knocked-out teeth, and nerve damage to her face.
Hsu sought more than $3 million in damages, alleging defects in the Autopilot design and the airbag. However, Tesla denied liability, stating that Hsu used Autopilot on city streets despite the user manual warning against it.
The jury awarded Hsu zero damages, finding that the airbag did not fail to perform safely, and that Tesla did not intentionally fail to disclose facts to her. Hsu’s attorney, Donald Slavik, expressed disappointment in the result, while Tesla attorney Michael Carey declined to comment.
The trial took place over three weeks in Los Angeles Superior Court and featured testimony from three Tesla engineers.
Although the trial’s outcome is not legally binding in other cases, it is considered a test case because it could influence future cases related to semi-automated driving systems. Cassandra Burke Robertson, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, notes that early cases “give an indication of how later cases are likely to go.”
The Hsu trial comes at a critical time for Tesla as it faces a series of other trials related to its semi-automated driving system, which CEO Elon Musk claims is safer than human drivers.
Tesla is also under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding its claims about self-driving capabilities and the safety of its technology. Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD systems warn drivers to always be ready to take over the wheel at any given time.
