Musk and Tesla have always had great ambitions for auto drive system, but this important product may encounter major legal setbacks in the near future.
Florida District Judge Reid Scott stated that reasonable evidence has been found to prove that Musk and other Tesla executives allowed cars to drive in unsafe ways even though they were aware of the Autopilot's flaws, and described the Autopilot product as a marketing strategy for autonomous driving, seriously affecting consumers' belief in the feature.
This is related to an accident in 2019. At that time, a Tesla Model 3 collided with an 18 wheel truck in northern Miami, causing the top of the Model 3 to be lifted and the driver, Stephen Banner, to die on the spot.
Banner's wife immediately filed a lawsuit against Tesla, accusing him of intentional 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 auto drive system.
Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, stated that the judge's summary of evidence is crucial as it indicates a significant difference between Tesla's internal understanding and its marketing advertising.
He pointed out that the judge seemed inclined to agree with the plaintiff's testimony and other evidence, which was awkward for Tesla and Musk, meaning that the company would face punitive damages.
And this will undoubtedly become an important part of Autopilot's loss of consumer trust, making it even more awkward for Tesla, which wants to increase the company's valuation through additional services.
Insufficient risk warning
Judge Scott stated that the plaintiff's statement to the jury mentioned that Tesla's warnings in its manuals and products were not sufficient.
He believes that the accident of Banner is very similar to the accident of Joshua Brown driving a Tesla vehicle in 2016. At that time, the Tesla vehicle using the auto drive system also did not detect trucks coming from other directions.
He concluded that this proves that Tesla's CEO and engineers have long realized the issue of autonomous driving systems not being able to monitor cross vehicle traffic. However, Tesla did not fulfill its risk statement responsibility in the product and usage instructions.
In addition, Scott also cited a video from 2016 that showed Tesla's advertisement claiming that the car was autonomous without human intervention. But there are still drivers sitting in the seats in the video, and the disclaimer at the beginning states that the real person exists for legal reasons.
He believes that the scene in this video is no different from the Banner driving scene, but the latter tragically passed away. The video does not provide any indication that the scene is only an ideal state, or that the technology is currently not mature enough in the market.