Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has reached a confidential settlement over a lawsuit triggered by the fatal crash of engineer Walter Huang. Allegedly, Tesla’s semi-automated driving technology led to his death in 2018. The accident, which occurred during Huang’s daily commute in California, involved his Model X colliding into a concrete barrier. Investigations suggest the car failed to alert Huang or brake to prevent the collision, raising debates about the safety of automated driving systems.
Huang was discovered to have been playing a video game on his iPhone at the time, taking partial attention away from the road. Regardless, Tesla’s marketing claims about its self-driving technology (specifically, the Autopilot feature) are stated as the primary cause of the collision in the court complaint. The lawsuit accuses Tesla and its exaggerated marketing, blaming them as the primary cause for the fatal accident.
Tesla settles lawsuit over fatal Autopilot crash
Following the tragedy in 2019, Huang’s family charged Tesla and its CEO with negligence and wrongful death, claiming the company overstated its autonomous technology’s capabilities. The family’s lawsuit argues that Tesla’s heightened focus on its autonomous technology was a significant factor in the crash. Tesla has admitted to settling the lawsuit to “end years of litigation.”
This case has joined several others that question Tesla’s self-driving technology’s safety and reliability. While the settlement appears to acknowledge the intense scrutiny on the company, critics remain doubtful about self-driving cars. Such lawsuits raise crucial concerns about autonomous vehicles’ future and the related regulatory frameworks.
The U.S. Justice Department started investigating Tesla and its CEO’s promotion of their autonomous technology last year. Interestingly, Tesla had previously dismissed a similar lawsuit relating to a 2019 accident. Critics suggest that this case was among the first to highlight potential issues with autonomous driving technology, particularly Tesla’s much-vaunted Autopilot.
