Tesla Faces $242 Million Fine Over 'Autopilot' .. What's the Story?

A jury in Florida ruled yesterday, Friday, that Tesla bears part of the responsibility for a fatal accident that occurred in 2019, and ordered it to pay $242 million in damages.

The accident took place in the Key Largo area and resulted in the death of Naibel Benavides Leon and serious injuries to his friend Dillon Angulo.

Plaintiffs asserted that the Autopilot system in the Tesla vehicle was responsible for the car veering off and colliding with a Chevrolet vehicle driven by George McGee.

The jury awarded $200 million in punitive damages, in addition to $59 million to Leon's family, and $70 million to Angulo's family.

However, since the jury found Tesla only one-third responsible, the amount was reduced to $242 million.

Attorney Darren Jeffrey Russo, representing the two families, stated that the jury listened to all the evidence and issued a fair and just verdict.

For its part, Tesla announced that it would appeal the decision, asserting that the ruling is incorrect and could hinder efforts to develop life-saving autonomous driving technologies.

The company's legal team explained that the driver was speeding, had his foot on the accelerator, which disabled the Autopilot system, and at that moment was searching for his phone that had fallen and was not looking at the road.

It was argued that any car, whether in 2019 or today, would not have avoided this collision, and that the accident had nothing to do with the Autopilot system.

The ruling came at a sensitive time for Tesla, which is preparing to launch self-driving taxis in San Francisco, adding more pressure and questions about the safety of this technology.