Elon Musk's Tesla Faces Legal Showdowns over Fatal 'Autopilot' Crashes

Elon Musk’s Tesla is bracing for a legal showdown as it prepares to defend its Autopilot system in court for the first time, facing allegations in two lawsuits that the “self-driving” technology led to fatal accidents.

Reuters reports that Elon Musk’s Tesla is set to appear in court in two back-to-back trials that could significantly impact the company’s future and the broader landscape of self-driving technology. The first trial, scheduled for mid-September in a California state court, revolves around a 2019 crash involving a Tesla Model 3. The vehicle reportedly veered off a highway at 65 miles per hour, struck a palm tree, and burst into flames, killing the owner and seriously injuring two passengers, including an 8-year-old boy.

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks via video link during the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. The second annual Qatar Economic Forum convenes global business leaders and heads of state to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges, through the lens of the Middle East. Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

The second trial, slated for early October in Florida, involves a separate 2019 incident where a Model 3 drove under an 18-wheeler truck, resulting in the death of the owner. According to the lawsuit filed by the deceased owner’s wife, Autopilot did not brake, steer, or take any action to prevent the collision.

Tesla has consistently denied liability for these accidents, attributing them to driver error rather than flaws in its Autopilot system. The company maintains that the technology is safe when monitored by humans. “There are no self-driving cars on the road today,” the company stated in court documents, emphasizing that drivers must pay attention to the road and keep their hands on the steering wheel.

Matthew Wansley, a former General Counsel of nuTonomy, an automated driving startup and Associate Professor of Law at Cardozo School of Law, commented on the trials stating: “If Tesla backs up a lot of wins in these cases, I think they’re going to get more favorable settlements in other cases.”

However, Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South California, noted that “a big loss for Tesla – especially with a big damages award” could “dramatically shape the narrative going forward.”

Breitbart News previously reported on Tesla’s failure to make changes to Autopilot after fatal crashes:

The lawsuit alleges that Tesla did not make any changes to its Autopilot system to account for crossing traffic in the nearly three years between two high-profile accidents that killed Tesla drivers whose cars collided with the side of trucks. The case is set to go to a jury trial in October.

According to company engineer Chris Payne’s testimony in 2021, as cited in a recent court filing, the Autopilot system was not designed to detect cross traffic despite the company’s awareness of the possibility for error. Engineer Nicklas Gustafsson provided a similar account in a 2021 deposition.

The lawsuit was brought by the family of Jeremy Banner, a 50-year-old father of three who had switched on Autopilot 10 seconds before his Model 3 plowed into the underbelly of a tractor-trailer in 2019. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that Banner probably didn’t see the truck crossing a two-lane highway on his way to work. Autopilot failed to “see” the truck at the same time.