A jury trial is scheduled to begin next week in a lawsuit challenging the safety and marketing of Tesla’s popular driver assistance feature known as Autopilot.
The case also includes a claim, denied by Tesla, that the company deliberately hid information about a 2019 crash involving a Model S whose driver had been using the car’s Autopilot technology in the moments before he smashed into an SUV in Key Largo, Fla.
The collision killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and critically injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo. Both were standing next to the SUV when it was hit by the Tesla.
The driver of the Model S was using Autopilot before he said he reached down to pick up his cellphone, taking his eyes off the road and colliding with the parked SUV.
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Angulo, still recovering from his injuries, spoke exclusively to Scripps News in February.
“This car was not safe and destroyed our lives,” Angulo said. “We all need to do what we have to do to hold Elon Musk and Tesla accountable.”
His lawsuit accuses Tesla of encouraging drivers to over-rely on Autopilot.
Tesla disputes that claim. The company did not respond to questions from Scripps News, but its website says Autopilot is “intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment.”
The lawsuit points to a Tesla promotional video for Autopilot posted online showing a driver without hands on the wheel that said in part, “…the car is driving itself.” That video with those words on screen no longer appears on the site.
Newly unsealed filings in the case reviewed by Scripps News also reveal Angulo’s attorneys believe Tesla “engaged in a scheme to hide” data produced by the Tesla Model S during the crash. An expert witness for the plaintiffs discovered the existence of the data after Tesla had testified it had turned over all information from the car.
Tesla has since testified it did not realize there was missing data.
“There was no bad faith on Tesla’s part in this case,” an attorney said during a pre-trial hearing.
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Federal Judge Beth Bloom is allowing the jury to consider punitive damages against Tesla, which would allow a steep financial penalty against the company.
“A reasonable jury could find that Tesla acted in reckless disregard of human life for the sake of developing their product and maximizing profit,” Bloom wrote in a court filing.
At a hearing before the case, attorneys for Tesla told the judge potential jurors will need careful screening of their opinions about the company’s divisive CEO, Elon Musk.
A verdict against Tesla would be a setback for Musk, who is hoping to roll out autonomous taxis even as the company’s self-driving features remain under investigation by federal safety regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The trial is set to start Monday July 14 and last up to three weeks.
