Tesla Sued for Alleging That It Concealed That Its Autopilot System Was Unsafe

Tesla was sued on the grounds that it knew that its autopilot system was defective but did not tell its customers about it. A judge said there was strong evidence that Tesla provided misleading and incomplete information about its autopilot system.

Tesla Model 3 Crashed Under a Truck and the Driver Lost His Life

The subject of the case is the accident that occurred in Florida in 2019, in which a Tesla Model 3 went under a truck, causing the death of its driver. After the accident, the driver's family filed a lawsuit for compensation against Tesla.

The plaintiff claimed that Tesla's autopilot system was defective and unsafe, but that it tried to deceive its customers by hiding this. The plaintiff also argued that Tesla's user manual was inadequate and misleading on how the autopilot system should be used.

Judge Finds Evidence of Tesla's Fault

Judge Reid Scott of the Palm Beach Circuit Court, where the case was heard, agreed with the plaintiff's claims in his review last week. The judge said he found evidence that Tesla hid facts about its autopilot system and made false promises to its customers.

In particular, the judge cited as evidence a commercial that Tesla released in 2016. In this advertisement, it was seen that the Tesla Model S was traveling without human intervention thanks to its autopilot system. In the advertisement, "The driver remains behind the wheel only for legal obligations, the vehicle moves completely on its own." It was said.

The judge stated that this advertisement did not reflect reality and that Tesla's autopilot department manager also accepted this. “It was recorded on record that this technology was not ready at that time and that the video was a fiction, when I showed the autopilot department manager Ashok Elluswamy the same video in an old case,” the judge said. said.

How Did Tesla Survive Similar Cases?

Tesla has faced similar lawsuits in the past. In 2016, a lawsuit was filed alleging that the autopilot system of the Tesla Model S did not work and caused the death of the driver. However, this case was rejected after Tesla proved that the autopilot system constantly asked the driver to be careful and that the driver neglected this.

In 2018, another lawsuit was filed alleging that the Tesla Model X's autopilot system caused it to crash into a barrier, resulting in the death of the driver. This case was also rejected after Tesla proved that the autopilot system gave a warning to the driver and the driver ignored it.

Tesla is now facing a third lawsuit. The outcome of this case could have a significant impact on the reliability and liability of Tesla's autopilot system. The next sessions of the case will show whether Tesla can survive this case as well.