related incident be In March 2018, a Tesla on autopilot crashed into a highway barrier near Mountain View, California, causing a fatal accident. after being confused by what the company’s lawyers described in court documents as lane markings that had “faded and nearly disappeared.” Walter Huang is a father of two children. On his morning commute to work, Mr. Hwang, an Apple engineer, is said to have been playing games on his cell phone while his Tesla drove autonomously down U.S. Route 101. Documents filed in the case show that on autopilot, Hwang’s car veered from the “faded” lane markings and then began following the lane. 101 was on his left, and while traveling at 111 mph, he came into the path of the highway safety fence that separates 101 from the exit to State Route 85.
Huang, 38, died. A subsequent National Transportation Safety Board investigation cited Tesla’s failure to restrict Autopilot’s use in such situations as a contributing factor. The company acknowledged to the NTSB that Autopilot is designed for areas with “clear lane markings.”
The settlement is a surprising development in a high-profile lawsuit that Tesla has fought since Huang’s family filed suit in April 2019. In its defense of this lawsuit and others scheduled to go to trial this year, Tesla claims there was a settlement. Autopilot warns the driver that they are ultimately in control of the vehicle, so they are not responsible.
Tesla claims that it is “very clear” that drivers must be fully attentive and keep their hands on the wheel while using Autopilot, and the company also says in its user manual that “drivers must be fully attentive and keep their hands on the wheel while using Autopilot. The technology may not work as intended if “lane markings” or “bright lights obstruct the camera’s view.” According to court documents, Huang’s hands were not detected on the steering wheel within seconds of the crash.
The issue in the case was whether such warnings were sufficient to absolve the company from all liability if it knew about the defect, but the driver was still responsible for correcting the mistake. . Tesla has known for years that lane fading could be a problem, according to complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and testimony from the company’s top engineers and federal investigators.
Ed Walters, who teaches self-driving vehicle law at Georgetown Law, said he was surprised Tesla decided to settle because the facts of Hwang’s accident were “favorable” to Tesla. . Because the Huang case overlaps with several other cases scheduled for trial, many observers were watching it as a potential precedent for future litigation.
The results of these tests are important for the company’s future, and also for Mr. Musk, who said Tesla’s “value is basically zero” if it can’t make its cars self-driving. Tesla has won the case so far. A jury found Tesla not liable in a lawsuit last year over the role of its Autopilot technology in a 2019 crash in Riverside County, California.
Walters said the settlement is a good way for the company to “manage risk” because jury trials can have “very unpredictable outcomes.” The family’s lawyer said the trial is expected to last several weeks.
“This may be a sign that Tesla is taking a stronger settlement stance on early lawsuits and waiting to litigate until its software is more advanced,” he said. But he added that he was “surprised that this case was resolved.” I thought Tesla would sue based on these facts. ”
