Tesla seems to be becoming synonymous with drama, and even more so now that a jury in Florida has ordered them to pay 209 million euros as compensation for a fatal accident that occurred in 2019. Wow, a bucket of cold water for Tesla at this moment.
The verdict, which partially blames the Autopilot system, comes at a delicate time for Musk’s company, which has just started testing its new autonomous taxi network (did you see the thing in Austin?). Of course, Tesla says the driver is the only one responsible for this accident, but the court ruling doesn’t agree. If the technology isn’t up to the task, it’s the manufacturer’s problem. And in this case, the bill is in the millions. Is it Tesla’s fault? Did they sell a system as more autonomous than it actually was?
The ruling
This ruling casts doubt on the way Tesla promotes its assisted driving technology and fuels the debate about the safety of autonomous cars. The thing is, for many years Tesla has echoed that its cars were “autonomous” when they weren’t, and that led many users to believe they could travel without even looking at the road. The company has announced it will appeal the decision, but the reputational damage is already done.
The accident that changed everything
It was 2019, April. Near Key Largo, George McGee was behind the wheel of his Tesla Model S with Autopilot activated. His phone fell to the floor and, while picking it up, his car plowed into two people who were outside their parked vehicle. One died on the spot after being thrown 23 meters by the impact. The other survived but with very serious injuries.
During the trial, the victims’ lawyers argued that Autopilot was still in beta phase and that Tesla knew about its lack of reliability and its conditions. Even so, the company exaggerated its capabilities in ads and promotional materials, which could have created a false sense of security among users. And that advertising cost a life, Naibel Benavides León’s.
What responsibility did Tesla have?
The jury decided that Tesla was 33% responsible for the accident. The rest was the driver’s fault, who had already reached a settlement with the family.
That’s when the investigation began into whether Tesla vehicles were as autonomous as advertised (when in reality they require constant attention).
For the victim’s lawyers, the problem is not just the technology. It’s how you sell it. Because if you make people believe the car drives itself, you can’t then blame them for not paying attention!
Elon Musk defends himself and plans to appeal
Tesla has rejected the verdict and will appeal the decision, arguing that the driver “had his foot on the accelerator and was not paying attention”, which would have deactivated the Autopilot system at the moment of impact. The company insists that these kinds of lawsuits could slow down the development of life-saving technologies.
A bad time for Musk
This ruling doesn’t come at the best time for the American company. Tesla has just launched a pilot test of driverless taxis in Austin, Texas, and is preparing to expand to other cities. A ruling like this could slow down public enthusiasm and lead to stricter regulatory review in the United States… and much less trust in these vehicles…
Can Musk win back public trust?
For now, we don’t know. The battle to regain credibility has just begun and Tesla needs people to keep all their expectations on Autopilot, but if that trust breaks, they’ll sell less again, face more scrutiny, and their competitors will start gaining ground…
This trial could have been avoided by calling things what they are and not making buyers believe they were driving Batman’s car. A life could have been saved and now, they’ll have to pay the damages.