Tesla has settled a lawsuit over a 2018 crash that killed Apple engineer Walter Huang, just as the trial was about to begin. The settlement, revealed in court documents on Monday, ends a five-year legal battle over the accident involving Tesla's driver assistance technology.
The crash occurred on US Highway 101 near Mountain View, California, when Huang's 2017 Model X veered into a highway barrier. Tesla argued that Huang misused the system as he was playing a video game on his smartphone at the time, and failed to stay alert. The National Transport and Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that Huang made no attempt to stop and was playing a game.
Huang's family alleged that the Autopilot system steered the vehicle into the barrier. They also questioned whether Tesla understood that drivers might not use the system as directed. The settlement avoids a trial that would have examined these questions.
Legal experts note that the settlement may encourage other plaintiffs to pursue cases against Tesla over Autopilot. Tesla faces numerous lawsuits over crashes linked to the system. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has investigated hundreds of crashes involving Autopilot.
In December, Tesla recalled more than two million vehicles with Autopilot to add additional driver alerts via a remote software update. This follows two previous California trials that Tesla won by arguing drivers had not heeded instructions to maintain attention.
Despite marketing features like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, Tesla has yet to produce a fully autonomous car. The company continues to blame inattentive drivers for accidents involving its systems.
