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Florida Judge Accuses Tesla of Knowing About Flawed Autopilot Tech
November 22, 2023
A judge in Florida has recently ruled that there’s a reasonable basis to believe that Tesla’s executive team, including Elon Musk, knew about potential flaws in the company’s self-driving technology, yet they continued to let their vehicles operate on the road.
According to Judge Reid Scott of the Palm Beach County Circuit Court, he discovered evidence pointing to Tesla’s marketing approach, which depicted its products as fully autonomous. Judge Scott also suggested that Musk’s public declarations regarding the self-driving tech played a substantial role in molding public perception about the products’ capabilities. This ruling paved the way for a lawsuit related to a deadly crash that occurred north of Miami in 2019, where Stephen Banner, who was driving a Tesla Model 3, “crashed into an 18-wheeler truck that had turned on the road into the path of the driver.”
The proceedings are the initiative of Banner’s wife, who has accused Tesla of intentional wrongdoing and gross negligence. This could leave Tesla vulnerable to punitive damages. It’s worth noting that this follows Tesla’s victory in two product liability lawsuits in California earlier this year, both regarding alleged defects in its Autopilot system.
Judge Scott also determined that the plaintiff, Banner’s wife, should have the opportunity to argue to the jury that Tesla’s warnings in their manuals and “clickwrap” agreements were insufficient. In his comments, he drew parallels to a 2016 incident involving Joshua Brown, where the Autopilot system failed to recognize crossing trucks.
He suggested that it’s not unrealistic to conclude that Tesla, its CEO, and its engineers were fully aware of the problem with the Autopilot’s failure to detect cross traffic. Banner’s legal representative, Lake “Trey” Lytal III, expressed their satisfaction with this development, derived from the evidence of punitive conduct.
Adding further fuel to the fire, Judge Scott highlighted a 2016 promotional video of a Tesla car driving autonomously. The video includes a disclaimer stating that the driver present was purely for legal compliance, emphasizing, “The car is driving itself.” Judge Scott underscored that the video doesn’t indicate it is a vision of future capabilities or that the showcased technology is yet to be mainstreamed. This leaves viewers with the impression that the tech is currently available on the market.
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