Automaker Tesla has won an important victory in a U.S. court related to its Autopilot. Jurors in California concluded on Friday that the system had not failed in an accident. It was the first verdict related to an accident involving Tesla's semi-automated driving software. Company CEO Elon Musk has described the systems as crucial to the company's future.
Allegations about the autopilot and the airbag
A woman from Los Angeles had filed a lawsuit against Tesla. She accused the company of deficiencies in the autopilot and the airbag and demanded the payment of more than three million dollars. According to her, she had crashed her Tesla Model S into a curb in 2019 in Autopilot mode. This triggered the airbag and caused serious injuries to her face.
Tesla had demanded not to be held liable for the accident. The company argued that the woman had used Autopilot on urban roads, although Tesla warned against it in the user manual.
At a hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, the jury awarded the plaintiff no damages. They also noted that the airbag had worked and that Tesla had not intentionally failed to provide the woman with facts about the vehicle.
Tesla has repeatedly stated that the Autopilot or Full Self-Driving assistance systems do not make the vehicles autonomous. Rather, the human driver must be prepared to take over the wheel at any time. There are currently other lawsuits pending against Tesla in connection with the semi-automatic driving system. Friday's verdict may have an impact on its outcome, because in the United States, in some cases, previous cases and judgments are also used in the assessment.