Tesla on Monday settled a lawsuit that blamed its driver-assistance software for the death of a California man in 2018, setting a trial that is likely to put the company's technology in the spotlight months before it plans to unveil a self-driving taxi. Avoided.
The trial over the death of Apple software engineer Wei Lun Huang, known as Mr. Walter, was scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection. The incident was one of the most high-profile incidents involving Tesla's Autopilot software, garnering significant public attention and prompting an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Terms of the settlement with Hwang's children and other family members were not disclosed, and Tesla has filed court documents seeking an injunction to block its publication.
Testimony in court would put Tesla's self-driving software under intense scrutiny, with questions about whether the technology makes cars safer or exposes drivers or others to serious injury or death. This will lead to even more debate.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said his company's self-driving software will generate hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. Investors have used his claims to justify the company's high stock market valuation. Even though Tesla's stock price has plummeted in recent months, it's worth more than any other automaker.
Last week, Musk said on X that Tesla would introduce self-driving taxis, called robotaxis, in August. If Tesla has indeed perfected a vehicle that can carry passengers without a driver (though many analysts doubt this), its development would be similar to the Model 3 sedan or the Model Y sport utility vehicle. This will help answer criticism that the company has been slow to keep up with new products.
Huang was killed when his luxury SUV, a Tesla Model X, veered off a freeway in Mountain View, California and crashed into a concrete median. In the lawsuit, Huang's family argued that a defect in Autopilot was to blame, and that Autopilot lacked the technology to avoid a collision. The lawsuit also sought damages from the state of California, alleging that the barrier was damaged and did not absorb the car's impact as expected.
Lawyers for Mr. Huang and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment late Monday. Tesla said in court documents that the settlement “brings an end to years of litigation.” The company indicated in court documents that Huang was expected to testify that he was playing a video game on his cell phone at the time of the accident. The family's lawyer denied this was the case.
Tesla calls this software Autopilot and the more advanced version Full Self-Driving, but neither system makes the car fully autonomous. The system can perform functions to varying degrees, such as acceleration, braking, and lane keeping, but the driver must remain in control and ready to intervene at any time.
Tesla in December shut down more than 2 million cars for software updates after coming under pressure from U.S. regulators who said it had not done enough to ensure drivers remained alert when using the system. The vehicle was recalled.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the 2018 accident placed blame on both Tesla and Hwang. The agency said Autopilot failed to keep the vehicle in its lane and collision avoidance software failed to detect highway barriers. The board also said Huang may have been distracted.