Tesla, the electric car juggernaut led by CEO Elon Musk, has secured a decisive win in a pivotal lawsuit related to the death of a Model 3 owner, Micah Lee, in 2019. According to an Oct. 31 The Register report, the accident also left two passengers seriously injured and was alleged to have been caused by defects in Tesla’s Autopilot system.
In a significant decision reached today, a jury in Riverside, California, returned a nine-to-three verdict in favor of Tesla. The jurors were unconvinced that any alleged defects in the Autopilot system were responsible for the tragic accident, where Lee’s Model 3 had veered off a highway in east Los Angeles, just over a month post-purchase, and crashed into a tree at 65 MPH.
The legal document against Tesla, a third amended complaint, highlighted the sequence of events. The Model 3 veered abruptly off the road, resulting in a violent collision with a palm tree, following which the car erupted into flames. The suit pointed out Lee’s unsuccessful attempts to regain control of the vehicle before the fatal crash.
Uncertainty was expressed as to whether the autopilot system had ever been engaged during the crash
The survivors of the crash, through their legal representatives, claimed that the tragedy could have been averted had the Model 3’s Autopilot and/or Active Safety features functioned appropriately. “Tesla’s Model 3’s Autopilot and/or Active Safety features were defective and not ready for market, yet Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk advertised, presented, and maintained it as if it was,” the attorneys stated.
In its defense, Tesla asserted that Lee had consumed alcohol prior to the accident, potentially affecting his driving capability. The automaker also expressed uncertainty about whether the Autopilot system was engaged during the crash or if it had any defects, as alleged.
Despite comprehensive data available from the US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) on accidents involving automated driver assist systems, details regarding Lee’s crash remain unavailable as the records commence from 2021 onwards. While Tesla refrained from commenting on this development, the plaintiff’s lawyers have confirmed the jury’s decision.
Setting A Precedent?
This particular lawsuit is not an isolated incident of litigation faced by the automaker. Tesla is also embroiled in another legal battle involving Jeremy Banner, who died in a 2019 accident after colliding with a tractor-trailer. Disturbingly, in this case, Tesla engineers have admitted that the Autopilot system lacked the capability to detect cross-traffic at the time of its release, an oversight that remained unaddressed even after a similar fatal crash in 2016.
Lawyers in the Molander case echoed the concerns raised in Banner’s case, emphasizing that Tesla was aware of potential safety lapses in the Autopilot system.
Of all fatal accidents involving driver-assist technology, over 70 percent can be traced back to Tesla vehicles. This has led to multiple investigations at both state and federal levels probing the safety of Tesla’s self-driving technology.
However, the recent Riverside verdict marks the second occasion where Tesla has successfully refuted allegations of liability linked to its Autopilot system. In a previous case this year, a Los Angeles resident, Justine Hsu, alleged that a malfunction in the Autopilot system caused her Tesla to swerve onto a curb, resulting in severe injuries. The jury, however, ruled in favor of Tesla, acknowledging that the company had provided adequate disclosures about Autopilot’s functionalities.
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