Tesla s New Model 3. Credit Line: IMAGO / IMAGO STOCK & PEOPLE / Profimedia
A jury in Miami decided that Tesla has to pay damages worth $ 329 million after an accident in 2019, in which a model S, in Autopilot mode, fatally hit a 22 -year -old, reports Reuters.
The accident took place at an intersection of Key Largo, Florida, when the driver George McGee lost control of the car after escaping the mobile phone. The car was walking on the autopilot and, instead of stopping, accelerated by an intersection with about 100 km/h and hit a parked car, behind which was a couple.
22 -year -old Benavides died. Her friend, Dillon Angulo, survived, but suffered multiple fractures, a severe head trauma and psychological trauma.
The verdict of the jury establishes that Tesla is partially guilty for the tragedy and that the fault cannot be put in full on the driver, even if she acknowledged that she was distracted by the mobile phone.
Family lawyer, Brett Schreiber, said Tesla “designed autopilot for highways with controlled access, but deliberately chose not to restrict her use in other places, while Elon Musk said publicly that Autopilot is driving better than humans.” He accused the company of transforming public roads into testing polygons for a “fundamentally defective” technology.
Compensation includes $ 129 million in the form of compensatory damages and 200 million in the form of punitive damage. The victim's family lawyers had initially demanded about $ 345 million.
After the announcement of the verdict, Tesla shares decreased by 1.5% on Friday, accumulating a 25% decline since the beginning of the year, the highest decrease among the big technological companies.
