The Florida jury strikes Tesla with a verdict of $ 329 million in a deadly automatic pilot accident

An Florida jury found Tesla partially responsible in a fatal accident involving its automatic pilot system, ordering the company belonging to Elon Musk to pay $ 329 million in damages. The verdict marks a major legal blow for Tesla and an important moment in the broader debate on the security of autonomous driving technology.

This is the first case in which Tesla was held responsible for unjustified death following its automatic pilot technology, according to a Reuters expert. That said, Tesla’s pilot-assistant software was linked to hundreds of accidents, enough to justify its own Wikipedia page.

The trial stems from a 2019 incident during which a Tesla Model S driver, would not have paid attention while the automatic pilot was engaged, exploded a stop panel and a red light before slamming in a parked chevrolet. Naibel Benavids Leon stood next to the SUV at the time and was killed. His former boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, survived injuries.

A federal judge from Miami ordered Tesla to pay $ 129 million in compensatory damages and an additional $ 200 million in punitive damages to the succession of Benavids and Angulo. According to Reuters, Tesla plans to appeal the decision.

“Today’s verdict represents justice for the tragic death of Naibel and Dillon’s life wounds,” said Brett Schreiber, lawyer for the complainants, in a press release Wall Street Journal. “The automatic pilot designed by Tesla only for motorways with controlled access, but deliberately chose not to prevent drivers from using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk saying to the automatic pilot led better than humans.”

The decision is a blow for Musk and Tesla, at a time when the billionaire pushes aggressively to extend the company’s Robotaxi initiative. While Musk works to convince investors and the public that Tesla can lead the future of autonomous driving, a 329 million dollars verdict linked to its automatic pilot system raises serious questions on security and legal risk of this vision and could open the company to proceedings related to more automatic pilot in the future.