A Tesla Model X burns after a crash on US 101 in Mountain View, California, US on March 23, 2018.
S. Engleman | Via Reuters
Tesla has settled a wrongful-death lawsuit by the family of Walter Huang, an Apple engineer and father of two who died when his Model X SUV, with Autopilot features activated, crashed into a freeway barrier near Mountain View, California, in 2018.
The settlement comes as jury selection and a trial were just beginning Monday in California Superior Court. The settlement allows Tesla to avoid releasing evidence and testimony in a widely watched case.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the fatal crash and revealed in 2020 that it found Tesla’s technology to be at least partially responsible for the crash, along with possible driver distraction and faulty road construction. The NTSB believed Huang was looking at a game on his phone sometime before the crash.
The federal agency found that Tesla’s forward collision warning system did not provide a warning and the automatic emergency braking system did not activate as Huang’s Model X, with Autopilot engaged, accelerated into a barrier next to the 101 Freeway. Faded lane markings and the barrier — or crash attenuator — placement may also have contributed to the crash, the NTSB said in 2020.
Huang’s family sued Tesla for wrongful death, and their claims focused in part on alleged safety and design flaws in the company’s driver assistance systems. The case was Sz Huang et al v. Tesla Inc. et al in the Superior Court of California, Santa Clara County.
Huang’s lawyers, in court filings, also pointed to social media and marketing messages from Tesla, CEO Elon Musk and others suggesting that Autopilot made Tesla vehicles safe to drive without us having to stay careful on the road at all times or without having to hold them. hands on the steering wheel of the vehicle.
In internal Tesla emails cited in court filings, Tesla executives and engineers discussed how they had become complacent while driving their Tesla vehicles with Autopilot or related premium features enabled. They described reading emails and checking their phones while driving with these systems connected.
A Tesla Model X that crashed on US 101 (US-101) is seen in Mountain View, California, US on March 23, 2018 in this handout image.
S. Engleman | Via Reuters
A civil jury trial was set to begin this week in a San Jose, California, court shortly before Tesla settled.
Tesla’s lawyers had argued that Huang was a careless driver who apparently knew better but was playing mobile games on his phone at the time of the crash.
The company has filed to seal from public view the amount listed in the settlement agreement.
The fatal crash and filings in that suit had already called into question Tesla’s culture, its stance on safety and the quality of its driver assistance systems for many prospective shareholders and customers.
If a jury had found Tesla liable (in part or in whole) for Huang’s death, that trial would also have set a precedent in the product liability lawsuits the EV maker now faces, making it easier for other plaintiffs to sue or win. related issues.
In May 2022Musk said in a social media post, “We will never pursue victory in a just case against us, even if we likely win,” adding, “We will never surrender / settle an unfair case against us, yet even if he will probably lose”.
Tesla’s lead attorneys with Bowman and Brooke LLP were not immediately available for comment Monday.
In a filing asking the court to seal the terms of the settlement, Tesla’s lawyers wrote that the company had “entered into a settlement agreement with the Plaintiffs to end long-standing litigation.” They said they wanted the exact dollar amount of the settlement sealed because, “other potential plaintiffs (or the bar of plaintiffs) may perceive the settlement amount as evidence of Tesla’s potential liability for damages, which may have a chilling effect on the opportunity settlement then cases.”
Lawyers for the Huang family, Minami Tamaki and Walkup Melodia Law Firms, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.