The American automaker Tesla was judged on Friday partially responsible for a fatal accident in April 2019 in Florida and having involved one of its vehicles, one Model S, with the “Autopilot” option, according to a complainant’s lawyer.
The eight members of a popular jury decided on Friday, after a trial before a Federal Civil Court of Miami (Florida), to award the complainants a total compensation of $ 328 million (around 282.90 million euros), explained to AFP Darren Jeffrey Rousso, of the Rousso Boumel, who represented the right.
On this sum, Tesla should ultimately be liable for $ 242 million (almost 208.7 million euros), said Rousso.
According to the complaint against Tesla in April 2021, the SUV Chevrolet Tahoe in which Naibel Benavides Leon and his partner Dillon Angulo circulated on April 25, 2019 in Key Largo (Florida) was struck at full speed by the Model S, failing to have been identified by the “Autopilot” driving aid device.
The young woman, aged 22 at the time of her death, was propelled over several tens of meters, continues the complaint. Dillon Angulo was injured, but no details on his condition is available at this stage.
“Today’s verdict is an error and only causes automobile security back to back,” reacted the manufacturer in a declaration transmitted to AFP. He said he intended to appeal. According to Tesla, “the driver was driving in speeding, with the foot on the accelerator – which disabled Autopilot – while he was trying to recover the phone he had dropped and without having his eyes on the street”.
“No car in 2019, and no currently, could have avoided the accident,” said the manufacturer.
