In a court ruling last week, a Florida judge said there was “reasonable evidence” to conclude that the billionaire and other Tesla executives knew the company’s automated driving system was defective.
A Florida judge found “reasonable evidence” suggesting Tesla, including CEO Elon Musk and other officials, was aware of the flaws in its advanced driver assistance system Autopilot.
Decision by Judge Reid Scott of the Circuit Court for Palm Beach County allows plaintiff in lawsuit over 2019 fatal crash involving Tesla Model 3 to proceed to trial, filing claims of willful misconduct and gross negligence against the electric vehicle manufacturer.
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The lawsuit is linked to a tragic incident north of Miami, where a Tesla Model 3 collided with a truck trailer, killing the owner of the electric vehicle, Stephen Banner. The court’s decision allows the plaintiff to seek punitive damages, and the trial, originally scheduled for October, was postponed without a new date being set.
The judge noted that Banner’s wife could argue to jurors that Tesla’s warnings in its manual and in its “clickwrap” contract were insufficient. The ruling also suggests that Tesla, through its CEO and engineers, might have been aware of Autopilot’s inability to detect cross traffic.
Judge Scott referred to a Tesla promotional video from 2016 which showed an electric vehicle driving without human intervention. The video contained a disclaimer stating that “ the driver is only there for legal reasons. He does nothing. The car drives itself “. The judge noted that the video did not clarify its aspirational nature or the absence of the technology on the market at the time, which resemble scenarios similar to Banner’s accident.
This decision marks a setback for Tesla, which is now accused of knowingly allowing Autopilot-equipped cars to be driven in a dangerous manner. Since then, Elon Musk has largely changed his tune, the billionaire having already half-heartedly admitted that his future models will still not be entirely autonomous. However, these should take a big step forward with the next update, named V12, which has just been rolled out to the company’s employees.