There is “reasonable evidence” to conclude that Tesla and its officers, including CEO Elon Musk, knew its vehicles had faulty Autopilot systems but allowed the cars to be driven in areas “unsafe for this technology” , a Florida judge found.
The ruling last week by Judge Reid Scott, in the Circuit Court for Palm Beach County, means the family of a man who died in a crash while Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged can sue and seek damages from Tesla for intentional misconduct and gross negligence. Reuters first reported the news.
The blow to Tesla comes after the electric vehicle maker won two product liability cases in California earlier this year over the safety of its Autopilot system. Autopilot is Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system that can perform automated driving tasks such as navigating on and off freeway ramps, cruise control, lane changes and automatic parking.
The Florida lawsuit was the result of a 2019 crash north of Miami. Owner Stephen Banner’s Model 3 drove under the trailer of an 18-wheeler that had veered onto the road, clipping the roof of the Tesla and killing Banner. A trial set for October has been delayed and has yet to be rescheduled.
When the case goes to trial, it could reveal new information about all the data Tesla collects, information that is usually top secret.
Judge Scott’s finding that executives at the top of Tesla knew about the defects could also mean Musk would have to testify. The judge said Tesla’s marketing strategy painted the products as autonomous and Musk’s public statements about Autopilot “had a significant effect on the belief in the capabilities of the products,” according to the ruling. The judge pointed to a misleading 2016 video found to have been overseen by Musk that purported to show a Tesla being driven completely autonomously by its Autopilot system.
The billionaire businessman did not have to sit for a deposition after a judge rejected the Banners’ argument that Musk had “unique knowledge” of the issues in the case.
The judge compared Banner’s crash to a similar fatal crash in 2016 involving Joshua Brown, in which Autopilot failed to detect crossing trucks, causing the vehicle to crash into the side of a tractor-trailer at high speed. The judge also based his finding on testimony given by autopilot engineer Adam Gustafsson and Dr. Mary “Missy” Cummings, director of the Center for Autonomy and Robotics at George Mason University.
Gustafsson, who was the investigator for the Banner and Brown collisions, testified that Autopilot in both cases failed to detect the semi-tractor and stop the vehicle. The engineer further testified that despite Tesla’s knowledge of the problem, no changes were made to the cross-traffic detection warning system from the date of Brown’s crash until Banner’s crash to account for cross-traffic.
The judge wrote in his ruling that the testimony of other Tesla engineers leads to a reasonable conclusion that Musk, who was “intensely involved” in the development of Autopilot, was well aware of the problem and failed to fix it.
A Tesla representative could not be reached for comment.
As Tesla has done in the past, the automaker will likely argue that Banner’s crash was the result of human error. A National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the accident found that there was blame to go around — the truck driver had failed to yield and Banner was careless due to over-reliance on autopilot, according to the investigation. But the NTSB also found that Autopilot did not send a visual or audible warning to the driver to put his hands back on the wheel, according to Bloomberg.
Tesla’s lawyers may rely on the precedent set in two earlier cases this year, in which the automaker emerged victorious.
In April, Tesla secured a victory after a California jury found the automaker not at fault for a 2019 accident involving Autopilot. Plaintiff Justine Hsu sued Tesla in 2020 for fraud, negligence and breach of contract, but was not awarded any damages.
A few weeks ago, a jury sided with Tesla on claims that Autopilot led to the death of Tesla driver Micah Lee in 2019. The two plaintiffs, the survivors of the crash, claimed that Tesla knew its product was defective and demanded $400 million in damages. Tesla claimed the crash was the result of human error.
The case — No. 50-2019-CA-009962 — in the Circuit Court for Palm Beach County, Florida.
