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Tesla wins autopilot trial in California

The court's ruling serves as a crucial precedent for Tesla as it faces potential future lawsuits over its Autopilot technology.

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In a groundbreaking decision, a California jury ruled in favor of Tesla, determining that the automaker’s Autopilot advanced driver assistance system was not responsible for a 2019 crash. This marks the first trial involving Autopilot, with the jury awarding no damages to Los Angeles resident Justine Hsu, who had sued Tesla for negligence, fraud, and breach of contract in 2020.

According to Hsu’s lawsuit, her Tesla Model S, which had Autopilot engaged, crashed into a median on a city street, causing airbags to deploy, which subsequently fractured her jaw and resulted in nerve damage. However, the jury concluded that Tesla was not at fault and that the airbag was deployed as intended. The court filing also stated that Tesla had adequately warned users not to use the system while driving on city streets, which Hsu ignored.

This verdict is a significant win for Tesla, which has recently faced increased scrutiny from federal and state regulators over its Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving software systems.

Tesla’s vehicles come standard with an Autopilot driver-assistance system. For a $6,000 upgrade, owners can purchase Enhanced Autopilot, which includes additional features. For another $15,000, owners can acquire “full self-driving” (FSD), a feature that CEO Elon Musk has long promised will eventually deliver complete autonomous driving capabilities. Despite its name, Tesla vehicles are not self-driving; FSD encompasses a range of automated driving features that still necessitate the driver’s readiness to take control at any moment.

The court’s ruling serves as a crucial precedent for Tesla as it faces potential future lawsuits over its Autopilot technology. Although the trial’s outcome is not legally binding in other cases, as per a Reuters report, it is considered a bellwether for Tesla and other plaintiffs’ lawyers to refine their strategies.

Following the verdict, jurors told Reuters that Tesla had clearly warned that the partially automated driving software was not a self-piloted system and that driver distraction was to blame for the accident. Tesla’s shares rose 1.3% to close at $165.08 on Friday.

Ed Walters, a professor at Georgetown Law who teaches a course on autonomous vehicles, called the verdict a “huge win” for Tesla.”This case should be a wakeup call to Tesla owners: they can’t over-rely on Autopilot, and they really need to be ready to take control and Tesla is not a self-driving system,” he told Reuters.

The US Justice Department is currently investigating Tesla’s claims about self-driving capabilities, while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is examining the technology’s safety.

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