Judge finds evidence that Tesla, Musk knew about Autopilot defect

Source: Reuters

Judge finds evidence that Tesla, Musk knew about Autopilot defect

By Hyunjoo Jin and Dan Levine
November 21, 2023 8:00 PM EST Updated 21 min ago

Nov 21 (Reuters) - A Florida judge found "reasonable evidence" that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and other managers knew the automaker's vehicles had a defective Autopilot system but still allowed the cars to be driven unsafely, according to a ruling.

Judge Reid Scott, in the Circuit Court for Palm Beach County, ruled last week that the plaintiff in a product liability lawsuit against Tesla could proceed to trial and bring punitive damages claims against the company for intentional misconduct and gross negligence. The order has not been previously reported.

The ruling is a setback for Tesla after the company won two product liability trials in California earlier this year over the Autopilot driver assistant system. A Tesla spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The Florida lawsuit arose out of a 2019 crash north of Miami in which owner Stephen Banner's Model 3 drove under the trailer of an 18-wheeler big rig truck that had turned onto the road, shearing off the Tesla's roof and killing Banner. A trial set for October was delayed, and has not been rescheduled.

Scott found that the plaintiff, Banner's wife, should be able to argue to jurors that Tesla's warnings in its manuals and "clickwrap" agreement were inadequate.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/judge-finds-evidence-that-tesla-musk-knew-about-autopilot-defect-2023-11-22/

Alternate no-paywall link: https://news.yahoo.com/judge-finds-evidence-tesla-musk-005400856.html