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☆ Tesla settles lawsuit over crash that killed Apple engineer driving in Autopilot mode
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tesla settled a wrongful-death lawsuit related to a fatal 2018 crash . Walter Huang's family sued after the Apple engineer died when his Tesla was in Autopilot mode. AdvertisementTesla settled a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of an Apple engineer who died when his Tesla crashed while in Autopilot mode, according to court records viewed by Business Insider. "The Huang family wants to help prevent this tragedy from happening to other drivers using Tesla vehicles or any semi-autonomous vehicles." AdvertisementRepresentatives for Tesla and the Huang family did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: Tesla, Walter Huang's, —, Walter Huang, Huang, Mark Fong, Bryant Walker Smith Organizations: Apple, Service, Business, Court, The Washington Post, University of South Locations: California's Santa Clara, The, University of South Carolina

☆ Tesla is headed to trial over deadly 2018 Autopilot crash
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Tesla is going to trial over a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the family of Walter Huang. The family alleges that flaws in Tesla's Autopilot system caused the 2018 crash that killed Huang. Walter Huang's Tesla Model X crashed in March 2018 in Mountain View, California. Days after the fatal crash, Tesla said in a blog post that Huang "received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive." Tesla also wants to call the engineer to testify during the trial, but Huang's family opposes it.

Persons: Tesla, Walter Huang, Huang, —, Bryant Walker Smith, who's, Smith, who've, Mark Fong, Walter Huang's Tesla, inattention, Huang Tesla, Tesla didn't, Getty Tesla Organizations: Service, Apple, Elon, Court, University of South, Tesla, Associated Press, NTSB, National Transportation Safety Board, Business, Chicago Tribune, Getty, National, Traffic, Administration Locations: California, California's Santa Clara, University of South Carolina, View, Huang's, Mountain View , California

An advertisement promotes Tesla Autopilot at a showroom of U.S. car manufacturer Tesla in Zurich, Switzerland March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/ File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Tesla Inc FollowNov 21 (Reuters) - A Florida judge found "reasonable evidence" that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and other managers knew the automaker's vehicles had a defective Autopilot system but still allowed the cars to be driven unsafely, according to a ruling. The ruling is a setback for Tesla after the company won two product liability trials in California earlier this year over the Autopilot driver assistant system. Banner's attorney, Lake "Trey" Lytal III, said they are "extremely proud of this result based in the evidence of punitive conduct." The judge also cited a 2016 video showing a Tesla vehicle driving without human intervention as a way to market Autopilot.

Persons: Arnd, Elon Musk, Judge Reid Scott, Tesla, Stephen Banner's, Banner, Bryant Walker Smith, Smith, Scott, Banner's, Joshua Brown, Trey, Lytal, Dan Levine, Richard Chang, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Tesla, Palm, University of South, Thomson Locations: U.S, Zurich, Switzerland, Florida, Palm Beach County, California, Miami, University of South Carolina

☆ Cruise testing continues in Japan, Dubai, even as vehicles parked in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

At issue is an Oct. 2 accident in which a Cruise vehicle dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco after striking her. As recently as October, it had hundreds of autos carrying passengers around San Francisco with no drivers and had announced aggressive expansion plans. In Dubai, Cruise vehicles have primarily been seen recently on a couple of islands on the outskirts of the main city. In Japan, Honda (7267.T) and Cruise have jointly been testing self-driving vehicles on public roads in the city of Utsunomiya - a regional hub of about 513,000 people - and the adjacent Haga town. Reporting by Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Daniel Leussink in Toyko and Rachna Uppal in Dubai Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Elijah Nouvelage, General Motors, Cruise, ”, “, Bryant Walker Smith, Greg Bensinger, Daniel Leussink, Ben Klayman, Matthew Lewis Organizations: GM Bolt, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, General, Reuters, University of South, National, Traffic Safety Administration, California Department of Motor Vehicles, Cruise, Honda, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, Dubai, Japan, University of South Carolina, Arizona, San Francisco, California, Utsunomiya, Haga town, Toyko

☆ Tesla's Autopilot not to blame for a crash that killed a driver and left his wife and son badly injured, jury finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A California jury found Tesla's Autopilot function did not cause a 2019 crash that killed a driver. Micah Lee's wife and son were seriously injured and sued Elon Musk's EV maker for $400 million-plus. AdvertisementAdvertisementTesla's Autopilot feature was not responsible for a 2019 crash that killed a driver and left two passengers seriously injured, a California jury ruled. Tesla denied its software was to blame and argued that the driver had consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel. The EV maker also questioned whether Autopilot was in use at the time of the crash.

Persons: Micah Lee's, —, Tesla, Bryant Walker Smith Organizations: Elon, Service, Reuters, University of South, Washington Post, National, Traffic, Administration, Department of Justice Locations: California, Riverside County , California, University of South Carolina

The outcome in civil court shows Tesla arguments are gaining traction: when something goes wrong on the road, the ultimate responsibility rests with drivers. The electric-vehicle maker also argued it was unclear whether Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash. During the Riverside trial, an attorney for the plaintiffs showed jurors a 2017 internal Tesla safety analysis identifying "incorrect steering command" as a defect, involving an "excessive" steering wheel angle. The automaker subsequently engineered a system that prevents Autopilot from executing the turn which caused the crash. "I think that anyone is going to have a hard time beating Tesla in court on a liability claim," he said.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, Micah Lee's, Lee, Bryant Walker Smith, Matthew Wansley, Wansley, Eloy Rubio Blanco, Rubio, Sam Abuelsamid, Dan Levine, Hyunjoo Jin, Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang Organizations: Tesla, Tuesday, Court, Reuters, University of South, Cardozo School of Law, U.S . Department of Justice, Traffic, Administration, Thomson Locations: Riverside County, Los Angeles, University of South Carolina, Riverside

The lawsuit, filed against Tesla by the passengers and Lee's estate, accuses Tesla of knowing that Autopilot and other safety systems were defective when it sold the car. Autopilot failed to brake, steer or do anything to avoid the collision, according to the lawsuit filed by Banner's wife. Tesla denied liability for both accidents, blamed driver error and said Autopilot is safe when monitored by humans. Tesla said in court documents that drivers must pay attention to the road and keep their hands on the steering wheel. "Elon Musk has acknowledged problems with the Tesla autopilot system not working properly," according to plaintiffs' documents.

Persons: Casey, Elon, Musk, Tesla, Micah Lee’s, Lee, Stephen Banner’s, Banner's, Reuters ’, Matthew Wansley, Bryant Walker Smith, Jonathan Michaels, we're, Christopher Moore, Adam, Nicklas, Gustafsson, Elon Musk, Richard Baverstock, Trey, Lytal, Dan Levine, Hyunjoo Jin, Peter Henderson, Grant McCool Organizations: Tesla, China International Consumer Products, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Tesla Inc, Reuters, Cardozo School of Law, University of South, Thomson Locations: Haikou, Hainan province, China, California, Los Angeles, Florida, Miami, University of South Carolina, San Francisco

[1/2] A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives on autopilot along the 405 highway in Westminster, California, U.S., March 16, 2022. It said in a court filing that Hsu used Autopilot on city streets, despite Tesla's user manual warning against doing so. The main question in Autopilot cases is who is responsible for an accident while a car was in driver-assistant Autopilot mode - a human driver, the machine, or both? That executive, Ashok Elluswamy, director of Autopilot software at Tesla, testified during the Hsu trial last week about the videotape. Also at issue in the Hsu trial is the airbag.

"The Tesla bull case has centered around the company's growth goals, which it is failing to meet." Tesla's stock is trading at about 43 times expected earnings, down from astronomical levels above 200 times in 2021, according to Refinitiv data. Tesla on Wednesday doubled down on the price war it started at the end of last year, as Musk said the company would prioritize sales growth ahead of profit. In the first quarter, Tesla posted its lowest quarterly gross profit margin in two years. You're investing in Elon Musk," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer of Bokeh Capital Partners.

Critics say Tesla's claims and Autopilot have contributed to accidents – and deaths - by making drivers inattentive. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Tesla itself should face criminal charges over its self-driving claims, Reuters reported. The car's Autopilot system, which can control speed, braking and steering, was engaged at the time of the crash. The family of Gilberto Lopez is suing Tesla with trial scheduled for July. "The narrative of Tesla potentially shifts from this innovative tech company doing cool things to this company just mired in legal trouble.

☆ Tesla flags its cars not ready to be approved as fully self-driving this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Hyunjoo Jin | Akash Sriram | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File PhotoThe Silicon Valley automaker sells a $15,000 software add-on called “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) which enables its vehicles to change lanes and park autonomously. That complements its standard “Autopilot” feature which enables cars to steer, accelerate and brake within their lanes without driver intervention. A completely autonomous vehicle would require regulatory approval. “It’s a separate matter as to will it have regulatory approval. It won’t have regulatory approval at that time,” he added.

☆ Tesla cars will not be approved as fully self driving this year, Musk says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Hyunjoo Jin | Akash Sriram | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File PhotoThe Silicon Valley automaker sells a $15,000 software add-on called “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) which enables its vehicles to change lanes and park autonomously. A highly autonomous vehicle would require regulatory approval in California, for example. “It’s a separate matter as to will it have regulatory approval. It won’t have regulatory approval at that time,” he added. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) on Thursday said it “has an ongoing review of the intended design and technological capabilities of Tesla vehicles,” without elaborating further.

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