The $243 million (about 350 billion won) Tesla must pay over a death tied to its Autopilot driver-assistance system was finalized by a trial court.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on the 20th local time denied both Tesla's motion to set aside the jury verdict and its request for a new trial.
Judge Beth Bloom, who presided over the case, said in the ruling that "the evidence presented at trial sufficiently supports the jury's verdict," adding that "Tesla failed to present additional arguments that would alter the existing decision or verdict."
The lawsuit stems from a crash involving a Tesla Model S sedan that occurred in 2019 while traveling on a road in South Florida.
The car, traveling at 62 mph (about 100 kph), went through an intersection ignoring a stop sign and a flashing red light and struck a sport utility vehicle (SUV) parked on the roadside. The impact caused the SUV to hit a couple standing nearby, killing a 22-year-old woman. Her boyfriend was also seriously injured.
The family argued in the suit that the Autopilot system, which was engaged at the time, failed to properly detect lane boundaries and obstacles and respond, and that Tesla did not adequately warn drivers about such Autopilot risks.
The driver had dropped a cellphone at the time of the crash and was leaning down to look for it. In court, the driver said they believed the system would brake if there was an obstacle ahead.
Tesla argued that the careless driver was entirely at fault, but the jury sided with the plaintiffs.
Adam Bummel, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said he was satisfied with the ruling, noting that "Autopilot was defective, and Tesla put it on U.S. roads in an unsafe condition before the system was even ready."
Tesla is expected to appeal the ruling. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, after the verdict in Aug. last year, replied "We will" in a comment on X (formerly Twitter) to another user who wrote, "I hope Tesla appeals."