Elon Musk has vowed to appeal a recent court ruling that orders Tesla to pay $243 million in damages. The decision, handed down by a jury in Florida, found Tesla partly responsible for a fatal 2019 crash involving its Autopilot system.
The case centered on the deaths of Naibel Benavides and her partner, Dillon Angulo, who were struck by a Tesla Model S in Key Largo while stargazing. The crash resulted in Benavides’s death and Angulo’s severe injuries. The driver, George McGee, who admitted to being distracted by his phone, had previously settled with the victims’ families.
The jury’s conclusion was that Tesla shared liability, agreeing with the plaintiffs that Autopilot was not designed for the type of road where the crash occurred but was not restricted from operating there. The victims’ attorney, Brett Schreiber, accused Tesla of negligence and pointed to Musk’s public statements that claimed Autopilot was safer than human drivers.
Tesla called the verdict “wrong” and a “fiction created by plaintiffs’ lawyers.” The company argued that the crash was the fault of the distracted driver and that no car at the time would have prevented the incident. Tesla also claimed the verdict could jeopardize the development of life-saving self-driving technology.
Legal analysts believe the ruling could lead to a wave of new lawsuits against the company. This decision comes as Musk pushes forward with plans to expand Tesla’s autonomous driving technology and launch a driverless taxi service.
