- The California jury found Tesla not guilty in the trial over a fatal crash in 2019
- The lawsuit alleged that the autopilot was defective in Micah Lee’s Tesla Model 3
- Elon Musk’s car company said the driver had been drinking before the accident
A California jury has found Tesla not guilty in a trial over allegations that its autopilot control feature led to a fatal crash — a major victory for Elon Musk’s company as it faces a series of similar lawsuits.
After four days of deliberation, the twelve-member jury concluded by a 9-3 vote that the vehicle had no manufacturing defect.
The civil lawsuit alleged that the autopilot system in Micah Lee’s Tesla Model 3 caused a crash in 2019 that killed Lee and injured his two passengers.
The car suddenly veered off the freeway east of Los Angeles at 60 miles per hour, crashed into a palm tree and burst into flames, all in the space of seconds.
The lawsuit, filed against Tesla by the passengers, accused the company of knowing that the autopilot and other safety systems were defective when it sold the car.
A California jury has found Tesla not guilty in a trial over a fatal accident involving the autopilot in a Tesla Model 3 (photo)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk gets into a Tesla car. The electric vehicle company denied liability and said the driver had consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel
Tesla denied liability and said Lee had consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel.
The electric vehicle maker also claimed it was unclear whether autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash.
Tesla has been testing and rolling out its Autopilot and the more advanced Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, which Musk has touted as crucial to his company’s future but has been under scrutiny and legal scrutiny.
Tesla won an earlier lawsuit in Los Angeles in April with the strategy of telling drivers that its technology requires human supervision, despite the names “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving.”
Federal data shows there have been at least 42 Tesla crash investigations since 2016, including 23 fatalities, two of which were pedestrians and two were motorcyclists.
Investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) all involve cases where driving systems such as Autopilot or so-called ‘Full Self-Driving’ were suspected to be used.
In this deadly March 2018, Apple engineer Walter Huang was playing a video game on his phone while driving a Tesla
American investigators suspect that the Tesla that crashed into a fire truck in California on February 18, killing the driver and seriously injuring a passenger, was on autopilot at the time.
Apple engineer Walter Huang was killed in March 2018 when his Tesla crashed while he was playing a video game on his phone.
NHTSA said a Tesla that crashed into a fire truck in California in February, killing the driver and seriously injuring a passenger, was on autopilot at the time.
In financial filings last week, the company disclosed that it had received subpoenas “regarding certain matters relating to personal benefits, related parties, vehicle range and personnel decisions.”
One probe claims Musk ordered the automaker to ‘manipulating the dashboards of its electric cars‘ to show a greater range they can travel before running out of battery.
A DOJ investigation also alleged that a “diversion team” was created to quell thousands of complaints from owners disappointed with their vehicle’s performance.
Tesla revealed that it has received notice from the Department of Justice to investigate claims that it lied about its driving ranges
Employees were reportedly instructed to cancel as many service appointments as possible due to roadway issues.
Tesla owners have filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming automatic software updates reduce the range of their cars by 20 percent, forcing some to spend $15,000 on new batteries.
In January, Tesla announced that the Justice Department had requested documents related to its Autopilot and ‘Full Self-Driving’ features.