Tesla to pay more than $200 million in damages after being found partly liable for fatal Autopilot crash

A national assemblage successful Florida recovered Tesla partially liable for a deadly 2019 clang involving Tesla’s Autopilot operator assistance software, according to reports from The New York Times and CNBC. Tesla has been ordered to wage $200 cardinal successful punitive damages and astir $43 cardinal successful compensatory damages, CBS News reports.

It’s a uncommon nonaccomplishment successful tribunal for Tesla implicit Autopilot, which has been linked to hundreds of crashes and dozens of deaths by the ​​National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The institution won 2 jury trials successful 2023 resulting from lawsuits alleging that Autopilot was to blasted for crashes, and past year, a suit challenging Tesla’s claims astir Autopilot was dismissed by a national judge. The nonaccomplishment besides comes arsenic Tesla is starting to trial its robotaxi work in Austin and Bay Area — though successful the second location, it arguably isn’t a robotaxi work conscionable yet.

Tesla’s Autopilot diagnostic is designed to power a vehicle’s steering and brakes; however, immoderate reason that the EV-maker has misled drivers astir its cars’ capabilities. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, for example, has accused Tesla of falsely advertising its Autopilot and Full-Self Driving capabilities arsenic autonomous driving features.

During the trial, which started in July, plaintiffs argued that Tesla’s driver-assist bundle was astatine responsibility for causing a clang that killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides. While driving successful Key Largo, Florida, Tesla proprietor George McGee crashed into Benavides’ conveyance aft bending implicit to drawback a telephone that helium had dropped. McGee told the assemblage helium thought Autopilot “would support him and forestall a superior clang if helium made a mistake,” according to the NYT.

“Today’s verdict is incorrect and lone works to acceptable backmost automotive information and jeopardize Tesla’s and the full industry’s efforts to make and instrumentality life-saving technology,” the institution said successful a connection to the NYT. The institution plans to appeal.