Lee died from injuries suffered in the collision, while his fiancée and her son were severely injured.
Thursday’s verdict came after a month-long trial and several days of deliberation from the jury, which had to decide whether there was a manufacturing defect that caused the car to veer off the road. If Tesla continues to prevail in these Autopilot-related cases, the company could continue deploying the evolving technology with few legal consequences or regulatory guardrails. Multiple verdicts against the company, however, could threaten Tesla’s reputation and its financial viability.
“Though we express disappointment in the verdict, it’s undeniable that a national lens is now focused on this pressing matter,” said Jonathan Michaels, the lawyer for Lee’s estate. “Tesla, despite its stature, was pushed to its limits during the trial. The jury’s prolonged deliberation suggests that the verdict still casts a shadow of uncertainty.”
During the trial, Michaels argued that the car’s technology malfunctioned, causing it to swerve off the roadway and into the palm tree. Court documents also alleged that the company knew its assisted-driving technology and enhanced safety features were defective when it sold the car, and that the company markets its Autopilot features in a way that lulls drivers into a false sense of complacency when using the software.
But Michael Carey, the lawyer for Tesla, argued that the driver is ultimately in control of the vehicle, and they must keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road while using the feature. Both Carey and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
This case is one of at least 10 active lawsuits involving Tesla’s Autopilot, several of which are expected to go to court over the next year. Together, the cases could offer a precedent of whether the software should bear some of the blame when something goes wrong in a vehicle guided by Autopilot — or whether the driver is solely to blame.
Tesla’s Autopilot has been linked to more than 700 crashes since 2019 and at least 19 fatalities, according to a Washington Post analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data. A recent investigation by The Post also found that the technology relies heavily on human intervention.
In one fatal 2019 accident investigated by The Post, a man driving on a road that the technology wasn’t designed for barreled underneath a semitruck and was killed on impact. Lawyers for the driver’s family say the technology failed repeatedly, from when the vehicle didn’t brake to when it didn’t issue a warning about the semitruck in the car’s path. Tesla argues that the driver was ultimately responsible for the trajectory of the car.
That case is expected to be heard in front of a jury in the coming months.
