Because the assisted driving system caused a car accident and resulted in the death of one person, Tesla now has to pay sky-high compensation for the accident. According to reports, the federal court in Miami, Florida, USA,Tesla's request to overturn the jury verdict of US$243 million (approximately 1.68 billion yuan) was formally rejected and the original verdict of US$243 million was upheld.This indicates that Tesla can no longer avoid paying this high compensation at the court of first instance.
It is understood that this car accident occurred 7 years ago. At around 9 pm on April 25, 2019, George Mackey drove a Tesla Model S on a remote rural road in Key Largo, Florida.
While driving, he enabled Autopilot, Tesla's enhanced assisted driving system. However, when he dropped his cell phone in the car and lowered his head to pick it up, he did not notice the abnormal road conditions ahead.
The vehicle rushed directly into the roadside parking lot at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour, knocking over a parked Chevrolet Tahoe SUV sideways.
The accident resulted in the death of 22-year-old Benevides Leon Niebel, who was next to the Chevrolet, on the spot. His boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, was seriously injured, suffering multiple fractures throughout his body and brain trauma, and required long-term treatment and rehabilitation.
The accident investigation concluded that both the driver and the vehicle were at fault, with Model S driver McGee being found by the jury to bear 67% of the blame;
There are also flaws in the two car systems: Autopilot failed to effectively identify the stationary vehicle ahead, and did not issue a warning or automatically brake when the driver was distracted. There were technical loopholes, and Tesla had to bear 33% of the responsibility.
Although Tesla argued that the accident was 100% caused by McGee's reckless driving, because the instructions clearly required the driver to monitor the road at all times.
But the plaintiff’s lawyer presented key evidence,Tesla’s marketing with terms like “full self-driving” gives consumers a false sense of security that the system can handle all road conditions.
The judgment requires Tesla to pay a total of US$243 million (approximately 1.68 billion yuan) in compensation to the plaintiff, including US$200 million in punitive damages and US$43 million in compensatory damages.
The compensatory damages of US$43 million are mainly used for the victims’ medical expenses, funeral expenses and mental losses.
$200 million in punitive damages,It aims to punish Tesla for continuing to conduct misleading propaganda even though the system is known to have risks, and to warn companies of their disregard for autonomous driving safety.
However, Tesla stated that it would appeal against this verdict, calling the verdict "wrong and dangerous" and emphasizing that "the driver bears full responsibility for driving." However, in the end the jury still found that Tesla had to pay sky-high compensation.