Tesla has lost a case in Florida, USA, and will have to pay a huge compensation to the victims, their relatives, and the state. Of course, this is about autopilot.
The initial claim of the plaintiffs in the case, which was partially satisfied by the jury, was $345 million. According to the verdict, Tesla was found partially liable for the accident and must pay $129 million in damages to the plaintiffs and another $200 million in punitive damages.
Due to the confusion in the press (readers could see in the headlines amounts ranging from $243 million to $345 million), the website Electrek explains exactly how much money Tesla owes. The company has to pay only 33% of the compensatory damages, as it was found partially (33%) responsible for the accident. Penalties amount to $200 million.
The court’s decision was a huge blow to Tesla and a major victory for victims of accidents involving driver assistance systems. The case is of particular significance as it is the first case of death due to illegal actions, associated with ADAS systems (autopilot and full autonomous control), at what time earlier the court acquitted the company in a similar case. Recently, Tesla has been out of court settled two similar cases, but in this case the company apparently did not want or could not settle the dispute.
“Tesla developed autopilot for controlled access highways only, but deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere, and Elon Musk told the world that autopilot is better than humans. Tesla’s lies have turned our roads into testing grounds for their fundamentally flawed technology, putting ordinary Americans like Nabel Benavidez and Dillon Angulo in danger. Today’s verdict is justice for Nibel’s tragic death and Dillon’s lifelong injuries, holding Tesla and Musk accountable for maintaining the hype of autonomous driving at the expense of human life,” explains Singleton Schreiber’s Brett Schreiber.
In the case of the named victims, Tesla was found partially responsible for misleading customers by giving the impression that Autopilot could do more than it actually did. In April 2019, George McGee was driving his Model S on Autopilot in Key Largo when he suddenly dropped his phone and looked down to pick it up. The car then drove past a stop sign at a T-intersection and crashed into a parked Chevrolet Tahoe. Nabel Benavidez Leon, 22, and her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, were standing next to the parked Tahoe. Benavidez was killed and Angulo was seriously injured.
The police charged McGee with reckless driving, but the victims’ families sued both the driver and Tesla. McGee settled the case with the plaintiffs, but Tesla did not, which led to this lawsuit. Tesla tried to shift the blame to the driver, as is common in ADAS-related accidents. Given that the driver admitted to inattention, one would think that this would be an easy case. The company’s lawyer noted that this kind of thing could and does happen in any car. However, McGee’s comments probably sank Tesla in this case.
“My idea was that the machine would help me if I had a malfunction, if I missed something, if I made a mistake… that it would be able to help me. In this case, I really feel like it let me down.”
Tesla’s lawyers issued a statement in connection with the verdict:
“Today’s verdict is wrong and only reduces car safety and jeopardizes the efforts of Tesla and the entire industry to develop and deploy life-saving technologies. We plan to appeal, given the significant legal errors and irregularities during the trial. While this jury found that the driver was primarily responsible for this tragic accident in 2019, the evidence has always pointed to the driver being solely at fault as he was speeding with his foot on the accelerator and turned off the autopilot as he searched for his phone without taking his eyes off the road. It should be noted that no car in 2019, and none today, could have prevented this accident. It was never about the autopilot; it was an invention of the plaintiffs’ lawyers who blamed the car, while the driver, from day one, admitted and accepted responsibility.”
In June, ITC.ua wrote about the Tesla Cybertruck accident, in which the driver burned to death. The family of the deceased tried to settle the case with the company for 10 months, but eventually went to court. In the lawsuit, the victims’ lawyers justify why this accident would not have happened in a properly designed electric car. Also in Canada, four Tesla passengers burned alive because they could not open the door.
Spelling error report
The following text will be sent to our editors: