A Florida jury has ruled that a Tesla vehicle and its Autopilot software were responsible for a fatal crash in the Florida Keys in 2019. The electric vehicle company, led by CEO Elon Musk, plans to appeal the decision. The verdict represents one of the first major legal cases to address the liability of autonomous vehicle technology. The crash resulted in the death of a pedestrian, and the jury concluded that Tesla’s systems failed to detect the individual in time to prevent the collision.
The company has announced its intent to file an appeal, citing the complexity of autonomous systems and the need for further legal clarification on liability in such cases. Tesla has long maintained that its Autopilot system is designed to assist drivers, not replace them, and that the vehicle was operated in a manner that deviated from the intended use.