Tesla Autopilot Wins Case, Not Responsible for Fatal 2019 Model 3 Crash

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 31 October 2023, 09:10 pm

The looming case over Tesla and its Autopilot is now over, as the company won the case when the California jury ruled that the company and its assistive driving system are not the culprits to a previous accident. This was the infamous fatal 2019 Model 3 crash which was said to be using the Autopilot, and was the reason for the family's demise, leading to the driver's fatality.

It is also important to note that this is Tesla's second acquittal from a charge against its Autopilot's alleged flaw this year, with the jury ruling out the technology being the culprit of the accident.

Tesla Autopilot Wins the Case, Not Responsible for Crash

(Photo : Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A California jury has found that Tesla was not responsible for the fatal crash that took place in 2019, and this was said to be using the Autopilot which resulted in the said accident. This accident took place in Riverside County and led to the death of Micah Lee, leaving his wife and child behind with serious injuries.

This recent decision by the jury is the second time Tesla won the lawsuit filed against them, accusing them of their faulty Autopilot being the culprit of the crash.

Tesla denied that the Autopilot was defective, and further claimed that the error was because of the driver, leading to the unfortunate accident around four years ago.

Fatal 2019 Model 3 Crash with the Autopilot

Lee's survivors filed a lawsuit against Tesla and claimed that they were sold with a defective, experimental software back in 2019, also regarded to have the "full self-driving capability."

Tesla's defense claimed that Lee had been drinking. The accident had the Model 3 running on the highway outside Los Angeles at 65 miles per hour before it sharply turned off the road and collided with a tree before bursting into flames.

Tesla Autopilot Issues and Probes

Earlier this year in April, Tesla won the case which was among the first to reach the deliberations regarding the fault of its autonomous driving feature and driver-assistive tech, the Autopilot, with a California jury siding with the company. This centered on the 2020 lawsuit in Los Angeles against the company, with the crash happening in 2019 that sent the victim crashing into a median.

In the past months and years, it was seen that more and more complaints are piling up against Tesla and its driver-assist and autonomous features equipped on its vehicles. The NHTSA has launched its investigations on the many driving technologies available on Tesla, stemming from different models of the vehicle and between the Autopilot and the FSD.

It was regarded by the company that the Autopilot should not be used on city streets, as well as giving the machine the entire control over one's car as it was designed to only be a driver-assist system. The recent win for Tesla in the California court further adds to its successful defense of its Autopilot, with the company still facing scrutiny over the technology it offers and claims to be safe.