Tesla\u2019s legal hurdles concerning its Autopilot driver assistance system are far from over. A critical trial began yesterday over the death of one Micah Lee, allegedly caused due to a malfunctioning Autopilot system.<\/p>\n
Lee\u2019s estate brought a civil lawsuit against Tesla, and the case is being heard at California\u2019s Riverside County Superior Court. Lee\u2019s Tesla Model 3 allegedly veered off a highway east of Los Angeles at 65 miles per hour, collided with a palm tree, and engulfed into flames.<\/p>\n
The crash killed Lee and severely injured his two passengers, Reuters<\/em> reported. The plaintiffs are arguing that Tesla knowingly installed faulty Autopilot systems into its electric cars. In response, Tesla’s lawyers argued that the driver was intoxicated \u2013 although the blood alcohol content was under legally permissible levels.<\/p>\n “The case is not about Autopilot,” Michael Carey, a lawyer representing Tesla, told Reuters<\/em>. “Autopilot makes a road safer. It is a good thing,” he added. “It is a classic human error that caused the crash.”<\/p>\n The Elon Musk-led brand has reiterated that Autopilot, in its current iteration, is a driver assistance system, and that users should remain attentive at all times. The system is designed to take the stress off driving, and not replace human drivers. At least not yet, as the development of the next-generation AI-powered neural-network-based self-driving software is underway in full swing.<\/p>\n Autopilot is also the subject of several ongoing National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigations, one of which is an incident involving a Model X ramming into parked emergency vehicles in Texas.<\/p>\n