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A judicial court in California exonerated the electric car company Tesla from responsibility for an incident in which the occupant of one of its vehicles equipped with autopilot was injured.
As Tesla prepares to launch its line of fully self-driving vehicles, a state jury has awarded it a key victory.
The first lawsuit to reach trial over an accident involving partially automated driving software featured Justine Hsu, a Los Angeles resident who sued Tesla in 2020 demanding $3 million in damages.
Plaintiff alleged that while she was driving a Tesla Model S with autopilot engaged, the vehicle veered off the edge of the road, causing the airbag to deploy, causing her to fracture her jaw, among other injuries.
Previously, in 2019, the manufacturer had denied responsibility for the event, arguing that the user manual warns that the autopilot function should not be activated on city streets. However, Tesla claims that the plaintiff did.
Jurors told Reuters the firm had made it clear that the partially automated driving software was not a self-driving system and that driver distraction was to blame.
After the ruling, which sets a precedent on the responsibility of the manufacturer in this type of case, the shares of Elon Musk’s company gained 1.3% and closed at $165 during the day on Friday.
with Reuters
