Tesla Ordered To Pay $243M In Autopilot Crash Case: Report

Tesla (TSLA) on Friday was reportedly ordered to pay $243 million in an Autopilot crash case by a jury in Miami, opening it up to other costly lawsuits.

According to a report by AP, the jury ruled that the EV maker was responsible because its technology had failed, and the full brunt of the blame cannot be put on a reckless driver, even if he did admit to being distracted by his cell phone. One-third of the blame was assigned to the Elon Musk-owned company, and two-thirds to the driver.

Tesla’s stock was down as much as 1.7% in afternoon trade amid broader market weakness. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the company dipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘extremely bullish’ over the past day. 

The Autopilot crash in question occurred in 2019 and killed a young couple who were out stargazing. The eight-person jury awarded the plaintiffs $200 million in punitive damages, along $43 million in compensatory damages for pain and suffering. Friday’s verdict follows a three-week trial in Miami.

The ruling comes amid Musk’s efforts to convince regulators and Tesla investors that the company’s self-driving software is safe. Currently, Tesla only has a limited self-driving Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. Tesla’s Robotaxi app has reportedly been displaying availability for sides across the San Francisco Bay Area as well. Still, so far, public records do not show whether the company has the necessary approvals for the same. 

Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that during a three-year investigation of Tesla’s Autopilot safety, at least 13 Tesla crashes had occurred. The agency found evidence that “Tesla’s weak driver engagement system was not appropriate for Autopilot’s permissive operating capabilities”, which resulted in a “critical safety gap”.

Autopilot comes standard on all Tesla vehicles. The company warns drivers in its online owner’s manual that Autopilot requires supervision and does not make its vehicles fully autonomous.

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Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article included incorrect figures sourced from AP News, which misstated Tesla was ordered to pay $329 million with $129 million in compensatory damages. AP News has since corrected its reporting, and this article has been updated accordingly.