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A Florida jury ordered Tesla to pay $243 million for the fatal Autopilot crash.

 A Florida jury ordered Tesla to pay $243 million for the fatal Autopilot  Elon Musk's electric vehicle company may face additional legal action after a Florida jury on Friday found Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, liable to pay $243 million to victims of a fatal crash in 2019 involving a Model S equipped with Autopilot.  For victims of Autopilot-related accidents, the verdict is an uncommon victory. Based on a more sophisticated version of its driver assistance software, Musk has been pushing for a quick expansion of Tesla's recently launched robotaxi business.  Tesla's stock is down 25% so far this year after dropping 1.8% on Friday.  According to a verdict sheet, jurors in a federal court in Miami granted the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon and her ex-boyfriend Dillon Angulo $129 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages .  33% of the compensatory damages, or $42.6 million, were attributed to Tesla.  Although George McGee, ...

A Florida jury ordered Tesla to pay $243 million for the fatal Autopilot crash.

 A Florida jury ordered Tesla to pay $243 million for the fatal Autopilot 


Elon Musk's electric vehicle company may face additional legal action after a Florida jury on Friday found Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, liable to pay $243 million to victims of a fatal crash in 2019 involving a Model S equipped with Autopilot. For victims of Autopilot-related accidents, the verdict is an uncommon victory. Based on a more sophisticated version of its driver assistance software, Musk has been pushing for a quick expansion of Tesla's recently launched robotaxi business. Tesla's stock is down 25% so far this year after dropping 1.8% on Friday. According to a verdict sheet, jurors in a federal court in Miami granted the estate of Naibel Benavides Leon and her ex-boyfriend Dillon Angulo $129 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages. 33% of the compensatory damages, or $42.6 million, were attributed to Tesla. Although George McGee, the driver, was not a defendant and will not be required to pay his share, jurors found him liable for 67%. 
Brett Schreiber, a plaintiff's attorney, said in a statement that Tesla "designed Autopilot only for controlled-access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk telling the world Autopilot drove better than humans."
He went on to say, "Today's verdict represents justice for Dillon's lifelong injuries and Naibel's tragic death." According to Tesla, it will be appealed.
The company declared, "Today's verdict is wrong and only serves to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla's and the entire industry's efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology." The plaintiffs had demanded damages of $345 million. According to their attorneys, the trial was the first time Autopilot had been linked to a third party's wrongful death.

IMPACT ON UPCOMING CASES

Due to the self-driving capabilities of its vehicles, Tesla has been the target of numerous similar lawsuits, all of which have been settled or dismissed before going to trial.
A judge denied Tesla's request to have the Florida case dismissed in June. According to experts, Friday's decision might lead to more lawsuits and increase the cost of future settlements. "It's a big deal," Marquette University law professor Alex Lemann said. "In the countless deaths that have occurred due to Tesla's Autopilot technology, this is the first time the company has been hit with a judgment."
The ruling might also make it more difficult for Musk, the richest man in the world, to persuade investors that Tesla can lead the way in both robotaxis, which it intends to begin manufacturing next year, and so-called autonomous driving for private automobiles.
Musk's ability to steer Tesla toward robotics and artificial intelligence will determine a large portion of the company's nearly $1 trillion market value as sales of electric vehicles decline.

THE ROLE OF THE DRIVER

The trial focused on the April 25, 2019, incident in which George McGee struck the victims' parked Chevrolet Tahoe while they were standing next to it on a shoulder when he drove his 2019 Model S through an intersection at roughly 62 mph (100 kph). Before colliding with the victims' SUV, McGee allegedly ran a stop sign and a stop light while reaching down to retrieve a cellphone he had dropped on the floorboard of his car. He reportedly did not receive any alerts. Angulo was gravely injured, and Benavides Leon was reportedly thrown 75 feet (23 meters) to her death.
According to Philip Koopman, an expert in autonomous technology and an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, "the jury found Tesla contributed to the crash even though we have a driver who was acting less than perfectly." He went on to say, "The jury could only have found a flaw in the Autopilot software in order to rule against Tesla." "That's a big deal." In its statement, Tesla claimed that McGee was solely to blame.
The company stated, "To be clear, no car in 2019 and none today would have prevented this crash.' This was never about Autopilot; it was a fabrication created by the plaintiffs' attorneys, who blamed the vehicle after the driver acknowledged and took responsibility for the accident from the beginning.



SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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