04/08/2024 – 21:06
Tesla has reached a settlement with the family of a driver who died in a 2018 crash involving the company's Autopilot driver assistance technology. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in court records. Jury selection for the case was scheduled to begin on Monday the 8th, with opening arguments as early as Thursday. The trial was expected to last several weeks.
The wrongful death lawsuit dealt with an accident involving 38-year-old Apple engineer Walter Huang. The driver died on Highway 101 in California after his Model X sport utility vehicle crashed into a highway barrier while he was using Tesla Autopilot.
Huang's family, which filed the lawsuit, followed a different line of argument, questioning whether the automaker overestimated Autopilot's capabilities and did not take sufficient measures to prevent customers from misusing the technology.
The lawsuit would be a test of Tesla's position that drivers, not the automaker, are ultimately responsible for accidents involving the technology.
Tesla said in a court filing that it agreed to settle the case to end years of litigation. The company asked the judge overseeing the trial in San Jose, California, to seal the settlement amount as part of the negotiation. Before the settlement, the case was expected to be well followed in legal circles. The automaker faces other disputes involving Autopilot.
#Tesla #reaches #settlement #family #driver #killed #accident #involving #Autopilot