A Miami jury has ordered Elon Musk’s car manufacturer, Tesla, to pay $329 million to victims of a fatal crash involving its Autopilot driver-assist technology. The ruling, delivered on Friday, could open the door to further costly lawsuits and deals a significant blow to the company’s reputation for safety.
The federal jury found Tesla bore substantial responsibility, citing a failure in its technology. This determination means that not all blame could be attributed to the reckless driver, who admitted being distracted by his mobile phone before hitting a young couple who were stargazing.
The conclusion of this four-year case is remarkable, not just for its outcome, but because it even reached trial. Many similar cases against Tesla have previously been dismissed or settled by the company to avoid public scrutiny.
This decision comes as Mr Musk seeks to convince the public of his vehicles’ safety, particularly as he plans to roll out a driverless taxi service in several cities in the coming months.
Mr Musk’s Tesla company doesn’t have the permits required to run any autonomous service, even with a safety driver, and they’re unable to charge for it.
Without such permits, it’s unlikely there would be a Robotaxi service in California. Tesla has been in discussions with Golden State regulators about expanding the service to California but it would be with significant restrictions to Elon Musk’s promises for his Robotaxi service, Politico reported.
Tesla representatives have met with California Department of Motor Vehicles officials at least five times since the start of last year, documents reviewed by the outlet show.
