Musk and Tesla have always had great ambitions for the autonomous driving system Autopilot, but this important product may encounter major legal setbacks in the near future. Florida District Judge Reid Scott said that reasonable evidence has been found to prove that Musk and other Tesla executives knew that Autopilot was defective, but still allowed the car to drive in an unsafe manner, and described the Autopilot product as a marketing strategy for self-driving, which seriously affected consumers' belief in this feature.
This is related to an accident in 2019. At that time, a Tesla Model 3 hit an 18-wheel truck in northern Miami. The top of the Model 3 vehicle was lifted off, and the driver, Stephen Banner, died on the spot.
Banner's wife immediately filed a lawsuit against Tesla, accusing it of willful misconduct and gross negligence. Prior to this lawsuit, Tesla had won two product liability lawsuits in California this year, both related to defects in the autonomous driving system.
Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, said the judge's summary of the evidence was important because it showed significant differences between Tesla's internal knowledge and its marketing advertising.
He noted that the judge seemed inclined to agree with the plaintiffs' testimony and other evidence, which was embarrassing for Tesla and Musk and meant the company would face a punitive damages award.
This will undoubtedly become an important part of Autopilot's loss of consumer trust, making it even more embarrassing for Tesla, which wants to increase the company's valuation through additional services.
Inadequate risk warning
Judge Scott said the plaintiff's statement to the jury that Tesla's warnings in its manuals and products were insufficient.
He believes that Banner's car accident is very similar to the accident in which Joshua Brown drove a Tesla vehicle in 2016. The Tesla vehicle using the autopilot system at that time also did not detect trucks coming from other directions.
He concluded that this proves that Tesla's CEO and engineers have long been aware of the problem that Autopilot cannot detect crossing vehicles. However, Tesla did not fulfill its responsibility to explain risks in its products and instructions for use.
Additionally, Scott cited a 2016 video that showed a Tesla ad claiming that its car could drive itself without human intervention. But the driver is still in the seat in the video, and a disclaimer at the beginning says the real person is there for legal reasons.
He believes that the scene in this video is no different from the scene in which Banner was driving, but the latter died tragically. There is no hint in the video that the scene is just an ideal state, or that the technology is not yet mature enough in the market.