Tesla wants a settlement in the “Autopilot” death case.

Access: 01:18 am | Reading time: 2 minutes

MIn a settlement, electric car maker Tesla wants to avoid a fatal lawsuit involving its “Autopilot” driving assistance system, almost at the last moment. The trial was scheduled to begin this week in San Jose, California. It was not clear from the court documents how much Tesla plans to pay to the family of the driver involved in the accident. The company asked that the amount be kept confidential.

The case involved the death of an Apple employee in March 2018. His Tesla model. The US accident investigation agency NTSB attributed the accident to system failures and driver inattention.

The autopilot system may have followed the wrong lane marking and steered the vehicle directly towards the bollard at speeds of over 100 km/h. Tesla did not issue a warning in time for the setback.

Tesla’s data records aim to prove that the driver did not have his hands on the wheel at the time of the accident. After the accident, it was discovered that the game was open on his smartphone. Tesla denied involvement in the process because the driver was distracted. However, some experts testified in the case that they could not say with absolute certainty based on the available data what actually happened on the phone before the accident.

The family said the deceased believed assurances from Tesla boss Elon Musk that “Autopilot” was safer than a human driving the wheel. In the documentation about the system, Tesla always emphasizes that the driver should maintain an overview of the traffic situation and control of the vehicle at all times. That’s why there are warnings if you take your hands off the steering wheel for a long time.

The effect was further exacerbated by the lack of a protective steel structure on the bollard. It had been damaged in another accident a few weeks ago and had not yet been replaced.

In two previous cases regarding the “Autopilot” system in the United States, Tesla had won with his arguments. However, the current case was thoroughly investigated and also led to an investigation by the NTSB.