A U.S. court has recognized some responsibility from the company regarding a fatal accident related to Tesla's driving assistance system, Autopilot, resulting in Tesla having to pay a large sum. This ruling is unusual in Autopilot-related accidents, and Tesla has stated it will appeal.
On the 1st (local time), according to Reuters, a jury at a federal court in Miami, Florida, ordered Tesla to pay approximately $243 million (about 337.8 billion won) to the victims, determining that Tesla bore 33% of the responsibility for the fatal accident related to Autopilot that occurred in 2019.
The jury concluded that a defect in Tesla's technology contributed to the accident, and even if the driver was at fault for not paying attention ahead, all responsibility could not be placed solely on the driver. They ruled that Tesla must pay $43 million in damages, which is 33% of the total damages of $129 million, in addition to $200 million in punitive damages, bringing the total to $243 million.
Earlier, the plaintiffs argued that the total damages amounted to $345 million and requested compensation and punitive damages accordingly. They contended that the Autopilot system, which was operational in the vehicle at the time, failed to properly detect and respond to the road boundaries and obstacles ahead, and that Tesla did not adequately inform drivers of the risks of Autopilot.
The accident occurred when a Tesla Model S vehicle, traveling at 100 km/h with the Autopilot function activated, hit a young couple without any warning while the driver was trying to retrieve a cell phone that had fallen. In this accident, which occurred in April 2019, the female half of the couple died, and the male suffered serious injuries.
In a statement released after the ruling, Tesla said, "Today's ruling is incorrect and undermines automotive safety, threatening the lifesaving technology development and introduction efforts of Tesla and the entire industry," adding, "Given the serious legal errors, we plan to appeal."
This ruling is expected to be a significant turning point in lawsuits by accident victims against Tesla. Until now, most cases have been settled with the plaintiffs or dismissed by the court. There are about 10 ongoing lawsuits related to traffic accidents that occurred while Tesla's Autopilot or advanced driving assistance software, Full Self-Driving (FSD), was in operation.