(San Francisco) Tesla won a victory Tuesday in one of the trials over “Autopilot”, its controversial driver assistance system: a jury found that there was no manufacturing defect in that of a Tesla involved in a fatal accident in 2019.
“While we are disappointed by the verdict, it is undeniable that this urgent issue is now attracting national attention,” responded Jonathan Michaels, the plaintiffs’ lawyer.
“Tesla, despite his stature, was pushed to his limits during the trial. The jury’s prolonged deliberation suggests that there remains a shadow of uncertainty in the verdict,” he said.
The case decided Tuesday in a Riverside County court in Southern California involves an accident that occurred after a 2019 Tesla Model 3 car turned right onto a highway near Los Angeles, struck a tree and caught fire . The driver died from his injuries.
According to survivors, two relatives of the driver, Autopilot caused the car to veer off the road and did not allow the driver to regain control.
After a month of trial and four days of deliberation, nine of the twelve members of the jury decided that there was no manufacturing defect in the driver assistance system of this vehicle.
Their verdict, however, does not exonerate the software in general, accused by many players and industry experts of giving drivers the false impression that the car drives itself.
Tesla has been offering “Autopilot” on all its new cars for several years, which allows you to adapt the speed to the traffic and stay on course in a lane. The group specifies on its website that the driver must remain vigilant, with their hands on the steering wheel.
Elon Musk’s flagship also offers and tests more advanced options such as changing lanes, parking assistance or taking traffic lights into account, integrated depending on the country in the “Improved Autopilot” or “Autopilot capacity” packages. fully autonomous driving.
The billionaire has been promising complete autonomy soon for years.
At the start of 2022, Tesla had to deactivate an option that allowed cars not to come to a complete stop at “Stop” under certain conditions.
Another case involving Autopilot’s role in a fatal crash is expected to go to trial next year.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request from AFP.