In a legal victory for Tesla today, a California jury rejected allegations that the company’s Autopilot system was responsible for a fatal crash in 2019.
The case was tried in the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside, where two surviving passengers had sought $400 million in damages for the loss of the driver’s life, physical injuries, and mental anguish. Tesla maintained that the crash, which resulted in the death of the driver Micah Lee, was due to human error, reports Reuters.
This is not the first time Tesla has faced legal scrutiny over its Autopilot system. Earlier this year, a California jury ruled in favor of Tesla in a separate case, awarding no damages to Los Angeles resident Justine Hsu, who had sued the automaker for negligence, fraud, and breach of contract. However, the recent case was the first involving a fatality.
Tesla still faces multiple lawsuits in California, including a wrongful death suit filed by the family of Walter Huang, an Apple engineer who died in a Tesla Model X crash in 2018. The State of California Department of Transportation is also named in the lawsuit. A jury trial for this case is expected to begin next year.
Federal and state regulators are also scrutinizing Tesla’s Autopilot and its upgraded version, Full Self-Driving (FSD). Tesla offers Autopilot as a standard feature in its vehicles, with an option to upgrade to Enhanced Autopilot for $6,000, which includes additional features like active guidance for highway navigation. For an additional $12,000, owners can purchase FSD, which is not fully autonomous but includes more advanced automated driving features.
“Tesla vehicles are not self-driving,” the company states, emphasizing that even with FSD, drivers are required to remain alert and ready to take control at all times.
