A jury in Miami found Tesla 33% liable for a fatal Autopilot crash in 2019 and ordered the company to pay the family of the deceased and the injured a portion of the $ 329 million in compensation, CNBC writes.
The payments consist of $ 129 million in compensatory damages and $ 200 million in punitive damages , with Tesla having to cover about $ 42.5 million in compensatory damages and the full amount of the fines.
The case was heard after a fatal accident in Key Largo, Florida. Driver George McGee was driving a Tesla Model S with Enhanced Autopilot enabled when he dropped his phone and leaned over to pick it up. He believed Autopilot would brake if he encountered an obstacle. However, the car accelerated to over 60 mph, crossed an intersection, and crashed into a parked car and its occupants. 22-year-old Naybel Benavides died at the scene, while her boyfriend , Dillon Angulo , survived but suffered serious injuries, including fractures and a traumatic brain injury.
The plaintiffs' lawyers pointed out that Tesla designed Autopilot for highways but deliberately did not limit its use on other roads, and that Elon Musk claimed that the system drives better than a human. In their opinion, this created a dangerous illusion of safety.
Immediately after the verdict, Tesla commented:
"Today’s verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla’s and the entire industry’s efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology. To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash.This was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers blaming the car when the driver – from day one – admitted and accepted responsibility."
The verdict is a blow to Tesla's image as Elon Musk tries to convince investors that the company can become a leader in autonomous transportation and launch robotaxis on U.S. roads. The company's shares fell 1.8% after the verdict and 25% so far this year, the biggest drop among tech giants.
This trial could set a precedent for future lawsuits against Tesla related to Autopilot and Full Self-Driving . There are currently about a dozen similar cases pending in the US, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues its investigation into the safety of Tesla's Autopilot.