The plaintiffs accused Tesla of selling the car knowing Autopilot was defective, while Tesla argued that human error caused the accident. Tesla denied it was liable, saying Lee consumed alcohol before driving the vehicle. The American automaker also stated that it was unclear whether Autopilot was engaged when the accident happened. With no hard proof that Autopilot was to blame, it’s no wonder Tesla is off the hook. And not for the first time.
After Tesla won a case in LA involving a non-fatal Model S crash earlier this year, jurors told the media that they believed driver distraction was to blame. Crucially, the jurors also believed that Tesla sufficiently warned owners about its Level 2 autonomous systems, even though it uses names like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving.
Interestingly, California passed a bill banning Tesla from using these names, though it may have been a publicity stunt. The bill was passed on 13 September 2022, and there has been little movement since. No implementation date has been set, for example.
