Why Tesla and Apple are at the heart of a lawsuit over Autopilot

In the crosshairs of American justice following a fatal accident involving its Autopilot semi-autonomous driving system, Tesla will appear before the judge with its electric cars and its Autopilot. But the firm does not intend to go it alone and also wants to involve Apple in this astonishing trial. In question: the accident allegedly took place while the driver was playing a video game on his iPhone.

Tesla has been offering semi-autonomous driving in its cars, thanks to its technology known as Autopilot. The latter actually arrived in 2013, with the launch of the Model S.

A historic trial

This system, which currently reaches level 2, requires constant attention from the driver. The latter must always have one eye on the road and above all, he theoretically cannot take his hands off the steering wheel. In short, the car can drive “alone” on the highway, but under close supervision. On paper, this technology makes driving safer, but in reality, this is not always the case, quite the contrary.

Because for many years, Autopilot has been in the crosshairs of justice and public authorities, due to numerous accidents. Thus, the American Highway Safety Agency (NHTSA) opened an investigation last year followinga fatal collision involving a Tesla and a fire truck. But the problems had already started well before this terrible affair.

Already in 2018, a Tesla Model X owner lost his life following an accident that occurred while the car was in Autopilot mode. The family had filed a complaint against the American manufacturer, which today finds itself at the heart of a large-scale trial. At the time, an independent report relayed by The echoes was unable to establish liability, while Elon Musk claimed that the driver did not have his hands on the wheel as he should have.

But the matter is far from over. Because the man behind the wheel, Wei “Walter” Huang, was an engineer working for Apple. And according to Tesla, the latter was playing on his phone when the fatal accident occurred. The accident report also indicates that the vehicle had accelerated during the three seconds preceding the collision, and that no braking attempt had been recorded. Which may confirm that the driver did not see what was happening.

Apple now involved

But what is the relationship between Tesla and Apple in this case, except that the victim was an employee of the Apple company? Well the American site The Verge explains to us that the manufacturer wishes call on the Cupertino company to organize his defense. How ? By asking the latter to testify in her favor, so that she can be exonerated. This is what Wei Huang’s family suspects, who claims Apple is committed to helping Tesla in its defense.

For this, the two companies could highlight a statement by James Harding, engineer for the smartphone brand during the trial. The latter indicates that the latter determined that a strategy game was actively used during the accident. Tesla also plans to make come the engineer as a witness at the bar. For its part, the lawyer for the driver’s family subpoenaed Apple, but the company filed a request to cancel this request.

According to her lawyers, she is absolutely not involved in this legal battle, although she is ready to “ work in good faith with the parties and fulfill their obligations as a non-party witness“. For its part, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in charge of the investigation, also proved thata game was among the most used applications by Wei Huang at the time of the fatal accident.

However, investigators were unable to determine whether the latter was actively playing at the time the electric SUV hit the concrete median. It remains to wait for the outcome of this historic trial for Tesla, which always managed to prove his innocence during the latest actions that were brought against her.