- Tesla will go on trial for wrongful death filed by the family of Apple engineer Walter Huang.
- The family alleges that flaws in Tesla’s autopilot system caused the 2018 crash that killed Huang.
- Tesla could face financial repercussions if a jury finds it was at fault for the collision.
Apple engineer Walter Huang was killed in a fire more than six years ago when his Tesla Model X SUV crashed into a concrete barrier on a California highway while the vehicle was in autopilot mode.
Huang’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tesla following the crash – and they’re now heading toward a civil trial that could shine a negative light on Elon’s electric car company Musk if a jury finds her responsible for the collision.
The trial is expected to begin Monday in Superior Court in Santa Clara County, California.
Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and an auto technology expert, told Business Insider that the case likely wouldn’t have any real consequences for Tesla, but that if it lost, it would “strengthen almost certainly regulatory control” around its autopilot. driving assistance software.
“This is a case and Tesla will be able to absorb the final damages, if any,” if the company loses, Smith said.
A significant jury prize could, however, be interesting.
“That would get the attention of other lawyers and even other people who would say, ‘Hey, my vehicle did something it shouldn’t have,’ or ‘that was wrong,’ or ‘I “I’ve been hurt,’ and so it might reshape or strengthen the public conversation,” Smith said.
Lawsuit against Tesla alleges its Autopilot system caused fatal crash in 2018
Huang’s family alleged in the 2019 lawsuit, which also names the state of California as a defendant, that the Tesla Model caused the death of March 23, 2018, morning. accident.
The family said in the lawsuit that Huang was traveling along U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View and that, as his car approached a left exit ramp, “the Tesla’s autopilot function made turned the vehicle to the left, out of the designated travel lane, and drove it.” directly into a concrete central reservation” at a speed of approximately 70 miles per hour.
The groom, a 38-year-old father of two, died because Tesla was “beta testing its autopilot software on real drivers,” B. Mark Fong, a lawyer representing Huang’s family, said in a press release at the time of filing the lawsuit.
Walter Huang’s Tesla Model X crashed on March 23, 2018 in Mountain View, California. KTVU via Associated Press
The NTSB found that Tesla’s autopilot system and Huang both likely played a role in the crash.
An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that Tesla’s autopilot system and Huang’s inattention while driving were likely responsible for the crash.
The NTSB said in a report that the probable cause of the crash was the autopilot system “steering the sport utility vehicle into a highway area due to system limitations, and the driver’s lack of response due to ‘a likely distraction from a mobile gaming app and an over-reliance on the Autopilot partial driving automation system.
The federal security agency described Huang in its report as an avid gamer and game developer who regularly played games on his phone.
A review of data from Huang’s iPhone showed that a gaming app was active on his cellphone during the ride, but it could not be determined whether he was holding his phone in the seconds before the crash , according to the NTSB report.
Huang’s hands were not detected on the steering wheel in the moments before the crash and he “did not make any evasive steering or braking actions before the crash,” the NTSB said.
Additionally, the NTSB said in its report that Huang “very likely would have survived the collision” if the already damaged crash attenuator — the barrier the car crashed into — had been repaired “in a timely manner.” The safety barrier was damaged in a previous collision.
Walter Huang (left) and his wife Sevonne Huang. Sévonne Huang
Tesla said Huang was responsible for the wreck because he “wasn’t paying attention.”
In court filings, Tesla’s lawyers placed the blame for the accident squarely on Huang, saying he knew the vehicle was not “autonomous” and that he was playing a video game on his phone and ” didn’t pay attention to it.”
Days after the fatal crash, Tesla said in a blog post that Huang “received several visual warnings and an audible warning earlier in the ride.”
“The driver had approximately five seconds and 150 meters of unobstructed view of the concrete partition with the crushed crash attenuator, but vehicle logs show that no action was taken,” Tesla said in its post.
“According to the family, Mr. Huang was well aware that the autopilot was not perfect and, specifically, he told them that it was unreliable at that specific location, but he activated the autopilot nonetheless at this location,” a Tesla spokesperson told Business Insider. a statement in 2018.
“The accident occurred on a clear day with several hundred feet of visibility ahead, meaning the only way this accident could have happened is if Mr. Huang was not paying attention to the road, despite multiple warnings from the car. “, the press release continues.
Tesla also recently revealed to plaintiffs that it had obtained a written statement from an Apple engineer indicating that Huang was actively on his iPhone at the time of the accident.
Tesla also wants to call the engineer to testify at the trial, but Huang’s family objects.
Tesla representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider for this story, while lawyers for Huang’s family declined to comment.
The Tesla dashboard Chicago Tribune/Getty
Tesla faces several other lawsuits related to its driver assistance software
Huang’s family is not the first to sue Tesla over its driver assistance software. Last year, Tesla won two lawsuits involving accidents in which Autopilot was used. There are also several lawsuits regarding the software that are still awaiting trial.
In recent years, Tesla has faced increased scrutiny from regulators regarding its driver assistance technology, including its marketing. Last year, Tesla issued a recall via an over-the-air update to address the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s concerns about the software’s tendency to “act dangerously at intersections.”
“Companies are constantly being sued, but Tesla faces unique and, in some ways, justified scrutiny of its Autopilot and so-called FSD systems, through civil litigation, civil and even criminal investigations,” Smith told BI. “At some point, all of this can only become a distraction for Tesla executives.”
“The scope, scope, scope and intensity of all of these legal proceedings matters,” Smith added.
For now, Tesla’s cars aren’t truly autonomous, but Musk has been promising that self-driving cars are on the horizon since 2016, and some companies like Waymo have already reached Level 4 autonomy, meaning that the car can drive in some cities without anyone behind. his wheel.
Meanwhile, Tesla has reached Level 2 autonomy. All current Tesla models come with the automaker Autopilot Driving Assistance Program. Autopilot allows the car to steer itself, change lanes, and brake and accelerate on its own.
Tesla said this feature requires supervision from a licensed driver and does not make the vehicle autonomous. The company is also offering customers the option to purchase its Full Self-Driving beta feature for $12,000 or through a monthly subscription of $199.
Beta functionality allows the vehicle to recognize stop signs and traffic lights and park itself.
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