"McGee was driving a Tesla Model S at night and using the company's Autopilot driver assistance system (which is a less capable system than the more fully-featured "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)" software). Both systems require the driver to keep their hands on the wheel. As he approached a perpendicularly-parked SUV, neither McGee nor the Autopilot system applied the brakes. McGee's car blew a stop sign and hit the SUV, killing 20-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and severely injuring her boyfriend Dillon Angulo."
"Tesla's lawyers argue in the new filing that product liability law is supposed to penalize manufacturers whose cars "perform in ways that dangerously defy ordinary consumers' expectations or are unreasonably dangerous." "That is not this case - not in the slightest," they wrote. They say McGee's "extraordinary recklessness" was to blame, as he was reaching for his phone when the crash occurred - a fact he admitted to in his own case."
"The company's lawyers argue that the verdict, which a jury made earlier this month, "flies in the face of basic Florida tort law, the Due Process Clause, and common sense." This latest filing by Tesla lawyers tries, once again, to rest all of the blame on the driver George McGee, who helped cause the crash. The jury in the case ultimately decided that the driver deserved two-thirds of the blame, and attributed one-third to Tesla."
Tesla asked a judge to vacate a $243 million verdict or allow a new trial in a lawsuit tied to its Autopilot driver assistance system. Company lawyers contend the verdict contradicts Florida tort law, the Due Process Clause, and common sense. The filing attributes primary fault to driver George McGee, who admitted reaching for his phone. A jury assigned two-thirds of the blame to McGee and one-third to Tesla. The 2019 nighttime crash occurred when neither McGee nor the Autopilot braked for a perpendicularly parked SUV, killing Naibel Benavides Leon and severely injuring Dillon Angulo. Tesla rejected a $60 million settlement offer months before the verdict.
Read at TechCrunch
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