ALBAWABA – Tech-billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla won the first US fatal autopilot crash trial on Tuesday as the company faces several other lawsuits and federal investigations pertaining to its driver assistant feature, called the Autopilot.
United States (US) Electric Vehicles (EVs) manufacturer's argument is that when something goes wrong on the road, the ultimate responsibility rests with the driver, which will help the company in coming trials.
The verdict is Tesla's second big win this year, in which juries have declined to find that its software was defective, according to Reuters.
Tesla’s Autopilot and more advanced Full Self-Driving (FSD) system are both crucial to the company's future, even as they face regulatory and legal scrutiny.
Musk's Tesla won the first US fatal autopilot crash trial ahead of other trials and investigations that could seriously hurt the company as the technology is key to Musk's vision - Shutterstock
The civil lawsuit filed in Riverside County Superior Court alleged the Autopilot system caused owner Micah Lee's Model 3 to suddenly veer off a highway east of Los Angeles at 105 km per hour. The car hit a palm tree and burst into flames in the span of seconds, Reuters reported.
The 2019 crash killed Lee and seriously injured his two passengers, including a then-8-year-old boy who was disembowelled, court documents showed.
The trial involved gruesome testimony about the passengers' injuries, and the plaintiffs asked the jury for $400 million plus punitive damages.
Musk's Tesla denied liability, saying Lee consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel. The EV maker also argued it was unclear whether Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash.
Elon Musk also founded SpaceX and Neuralink and has recently bought microblogging social media platform Twitter and rebranded it as X.
