Tesla logo seen in one of the showrooms.
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tesla An automaker on Tuesday won its first U.S. lawsuit alleging that Autopilot’s driver-assistance features caused a death, a major victory for the company, which is facing multiple similar lawsuits across the country.
The lawsuit, filed in California state court by two passengers in a 2019 crash, accuses the company of knowing Autopilot was defective at the time the car was sold. Tesla blamed human error for the accident.
A 12-person jury announced Tuesday that they found the vehicle had no manufacturing defects. The verdict was handed down on the fourth day of deliberations, with a vote of 9 to 3.
Representatives for Tesla and the plaintiffs did not immediately comment on the ruling.
The civil lawsuit alleges that the Autopilot system caused owner Mika Lee’s Model 3 to suddenly veer off a freeway east of Los Angeles at 65 mph (105 kph) and crash into a palm tree within seconds. He claims it was set on fire. .
According to court documents, the 2019 crash killed Lee and seriously injured two of his passengers, including an 8-year-old boy who was disemboweled at the time. The lawsuit, filed by passengers against Tesla, accuses the company of knowing that Autopilot and other safety systems were flawed when the cars were sold.
Tesla denied liability, claiming Mr. Lee had been drinking before getting behind the wheel. The electric car maker also claims it is unclear whether Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash.
Tesla is testing and deploying Autopilot and more advanced fully self-driving (FSD) systems that CEO Elon Musk has touted as essential to the company’s future, but regulations and It is subject to strict legal scrutiny.
Tesla’s strategy was to tell drivers that its technology required human supervision, despite the name “Autopilot” and “full self-driving,” which led to an earlier trial in Los Angeles in April. won the case.
The case concerns an accident in which a Model S ran off the curb and injured the driver. After the verdict, jurors told Reuters that Tesla had warned drivers about its system and that drivers were distracted. He said he thought it was the cause.
