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Tesla has been found partly liable for a fatal car accident involving its autopilot system and ordered to pay more than $200mn to the victims, as Elon Musk tries to win regulatory approval for his self-driving software.
A federal jury found that Tesla bore a third of the responsibility for a 2019 accident in Florida where a pedestrian was killed and another maimed when a Tesla Model S drove through an intersection and hit a parked car at 50 miles per hour.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers argued that the accident was caused by driver complacency stemming from Tesla exaggerating the capabilities of its assistance systems, failing to upgrade the technology after prior incidents, as well as for allowing drivers to use autopilot on roads it was not designed for.
Tesla said that the driver — who was not paying attention because he had dropped his phone and had his foot on the accelerator — was irresponsible, adding that its guidelines state that people must always be alert and in control when its systems are engaged.
The verdict stated Tesla must pay $200mn in punitive damages, as well as $19.5mn in compensatory damages to the family of the deceased woman and $23.1mn to her injured boyfriend.
While the dollar amount is insignificant for the $950bn electric-car maker, the verdict carries weight because it is the first federal case to find it responsible for an accident involving its self-driving software.
Tesla has settled other allegations out of court and won jury verdicts in two prior autopilot-related crash cases at a state level.
The Florida case casts light on what the plaintiffs alleged were Tesla’s misleading marketing claims and pronouncements from Musk about the abilities of autopilot and the more advanced system known as “full self-driving”.
Despite the names, both require the driver to be “fully alert” and ready to take control of the car — unlike Google’s Waymo taxis, where passengers can sit in the back seat.
“Tesla designed autopilot only for controlled access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere,” said Brett Schreiber, an attorney for the plaintiffs. “Alongside Elon Musk telling the world Autopilot drove better than humans, Tesla’s lies turned our roads into test tracks for their fundamentally flawed technology.”
Tesla will appeal against the decision, saying in a statement: “Today’s verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardise Tesla’s and the entire industry’s efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology.”
Musk confirmed on X that Tesla would appeal.
Last year, a US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analysis of 956 crashes found that there was a “critical safety gap” in Tesla’s autopilot system that had “led to foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes”.
While the Florida jury verdict relates to an older version of Tesla’s software that has since been upgraded multiple times, it could have wider implications for its plans to roll out a fleet of thousands of “robotaxis”.
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Musk has promised customers and investors that thousands of self-driving Tesla vehicles and Cybercabs — without steering wheels or pedals — will be on US roads next year.
Autonomous driving technology will be critical to the company’s future as car sales slump amid Musk’s divisive political activism and President Donald Trump’s dismantling of federal EV support programmes.
In June, Tesla started trials of its robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, for a limited number of handpicked users, mainly social media influencers and fans of the brand.
This week it also announced a ride-hailing service in San Francisco, but with a driver behind the wheel because Tesla has not applied for a state permit for an autonomous service.
