Tesla found partly liable for fatal 2019 Autopilot crash
Tesla had maintained the driver, George McGee, was at fault and called the verdict 'wrong' in a statement to the BBC, while vowing to appeal. The result means the company will have to pay as much as $243m (£189m) in punitive and compensatory damages.
The verdict marks a setback for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, who has touted self-driving technology as critical to the company's future. Shares of Tesla dipped following the news and were nearly 2% lower when US markets closed.
Following the verdict, plaintiffs attorneys said Mr Musk had misrepresented the capabilities of the company's Autopilot driver assistance software. 'Tesla designed Autopilot only for controlled-access highways yet deliberately chose not to restrict drivers from using it elsewhere, alongside Elon Musk telling the world Autopilot drove better than humans', said attorney Brett Schreiber in a statement to the BBC.
Mr Schreiber said Tesla and Mr Musk had long propped up the company's valuation with 'self-driving hype at the expense of human lives.' 'Tesla's lies turned our roads into test tracks for their fundamentally flawed technology,' he added.
The company was sued by the family of Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, who was killed when she was struck by the Model S at a T-intersection in the Florida Keys in 2019. Her boyfriend Dillon Angulo suffered life-long injuries and was also involved in the suit.
The court heard the driver, Mr McGee, lost sight of the road when he dropped his phone as he was approaching the intersection, causing his car to continue through it and crash into an SUV parked on the other side. The two victims were standing nearby. Neither Mr McGee, nor the Autopilot software, hit the brakes in time to prevent the crash.
After a three-week trial, the jury awarded $329m in total damages, including $129m in compensatory damages and $200m in punitive damages aimed at deterring Tesla from harmful behaviour in the future. Tesla will be responsible for paying one-third of compensatory damages – $42.5m – and the entirety of the $200m in punitive damages, but according to the company, punitive damages are likely to be capped at a lesser amount.
'Today's verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardise Tesla's and the entire industry's efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology', Tesla said in a statement. Tesla said evidence at the trial showed the driver was solely at fault because he was speeding with his foot on the accelerator, which overrode Autopilot, while looking for his phone and not at the road.
'To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash,' Tesla said. 'This was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs' lawyers blaming the car when the driver – from day one – admitted and accepted responsibility.'
While there have been other federal lawsuits involving Autopilot during fatal crashes, the Florida case that culminated on Friday was the first federal one to go to a jury.
Last year, Tesla settled a lawsuit over a 2018 crash that killed an Apple engineer after his Model X collided with a highway barrier while operating the company's Autopilot software.
In 2023, a California state jury found Tesla was not at fault in a case in which it was alleged that Autopilot had led to a death.
At trial, Mr McGee said his concept of Tesla's Autopilot was that 'it would assist me should I have a failure' or 'make a mistake,' and that he felt the software had failed him. Mr McGee has settled a separate lawsuit with the plaintiffs for an undisclosed sum.
Tesla has long faced scrutiny over its Autopilot and self-driving technology, and critics hailed the jury's decision. 'Tesla is finally being held accountable for its defective designs and grossly negligent engineering practices,' said Missy Cummings, a robotics professor at George Mason University.
The verdict comes as Tesla is battling weakening sales stemming in part from Mr Musk's political activities.
Source: BBC News
Image Credit: Tesla
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
6 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Gold seems to find floor around $3,400 level on safe haven demand
Gold appears to be stabilising around the $3,400 per troy ounce mark, retreating slightly from recent peaks above $3,410. Market analysts suggest that the US government's decision to impose duties on one-kilo and 100-ounce gold bars is lending support to the metal's price. Overnight, gold futures traded on New York's Comex exchange surged relative to the London spot rate, following a Financial Times report indicating that Washington would unexpectedly begin taxing imports of 1 kg and 100 oz bars. The move is seen as another setback for Switzerland, the global leader in gold refining. One-kilo bars are the standard unit for trading and storage within Comex-monitored vaults. Switzerland frequently serves as the intermediary between London's bullion market — where 400-ounce bars (roughly 12.44 kg) are the norm — and the smaller formats preferred in the US. 'The US futures market is a key liquidity source for bullion banks worldwide, offering round-the-clock hedging for physical gold transactions. That's why we're seeing the exchange-for-physical (EFP) spread widen dramatically again — short positions originally meant for hedging are unraveling. In the near term, short-covering is the primary catalyst, and once that subsides, the premium could normalise,' said Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank. Similar market distortions were observed during the Covid-19 crisis, when transatlantic gold shipments were briefly disrupted, and again earlier this year amid speculation that Trump's tariff policies might extend to precious metals. 'It's worth monitoring whether another 'TACO moment' will materialise. If not, the spread may need to recalibrate to reflect the new tariff regime,' Hansen added. In a broader context, these developments — echoing recent turbulence in the New York copper market — are prompting scrutiny of the Comex exchange's reliability as a venue for transparent price discovery. Analysts warn that the platform is increasingly susceptible to political interference, particularly from Trump's evolving trade strategies. The December Comex contract (GCZ5), the most actively traded, hit a new all-time high of $3,534 overnight. The premium over London spot widened to more than $100, up from around $40 just a week ago. 'All of this reinforces the London spot price as the most accurate reflection of gold's true value. Ignore technical breakouts in the futures market for now — the EFP distortions are skewing the picture. What matters is the spot price, which has been range-bound since April. A breakout above $3,450 would be needed to shift that,' Hansen noted. Silver and platinum also found support earlier this month, buoyed by a spike in high-grade copper prices in New York, which hit a record $5.8955/lb on July 8. The rally followed Trump's unexpected proposal to double tariffs on copper imports to 50 per cent — far above market expectations. The announcement drove the premium over London Metal Exchange copper to a historic 34 per cent, triggering a rush to move copper into the US before the new rules took effect. That trade quickly unraveled last week when Trump reversed course, declaring that refined copper traded on futures exchanges would be exempt from tariffs until at least January 2027. 'The New York premium collapsed almost instantly, leaving traders with losses and US warehouses overflowing with copper — now at their highest inventory levels in 21 years. With imports drying up, domestic prices may fall below global benchmarks to clear the surplus,' Hansen said.
Zawya
8 hours ago
- Zawya
Red Hat recognized as a leader for second consecutive year in 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant
Red Hat is recognized in the Magic Quadrant. We believe this reinforces its role as a consistent, open hybrid cloud foundation for enterprise applications, AI workloads and developer innovation. Red Hat, the world's leading provider of open source solutions, has announced that it has been recognized by Gartner as a Leader in the 2025 Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Native Application Platforms for the second year in a row. Red Hat OpenShift, the industry's leading hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes, was recognized for the solution's Completeness of Vision and in Ability to Execute in the Magic Quadrant. In our opinion, this recognition underscores Red Hat OpenShift's comprehensive capabilities in helping organizations build, deploy and manage cloud-native applications across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, from the datacenter to the edge. The platform's ability to provide a consistent operational experience for both virtualized and containerized workloads, coupled with its robust developer tooling and integrated security features, empowers enterprises to accelerate innovation and drive digital transformation. We feel Red Hat OpenShift is recognized for its robust capabilities in containerization support, its extensive ecosystem and integration and its strong security and compliance features. Red Hat OpenShift continues to evolve, offering a flexible and powerful foundation for a wide range of workloads, including increasingly critical AI/ML initiatives. With its flexible multicloud strategy, Red Hat OpenShift demonstrates a clear understanding of the evolving cloud-native market, positioning it to effectively power the next generation of AI-driven workloads. The Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Native Application Platforms evaluated 12 vendor solutions and was based on specific criteria that analyzed the company's overall completeness of vision and ability to execute. According to Gartner, Leaders execute well against their current vision and are well positioned for tomorrow. View a complimentary copy of the Magic Quadrant report to learn more about Red Hat's strengths and cautions, among other provider offerings, here. Supporting Quotes Mike Barrett, vice president & general manager, Hybrid Cloud Platforms, Red Hat: 'We believe being recognized as a Leader for a second consecutive year in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud-Native Application Platforms is a testament to Red Hat OpenShift's sustained innovation and its critical role in enabling enterprises to navigate the complexities of modern application development. Our commitment to open source and hybrid cloud allows organizations to build, deploy and manage applications with unparalleled consistency and flexibility, wherever their data and operations reside.' Additional Resources Learn more about Red Hat OpenShift Check out the blog to learn more: Red Hat Named a Leader in 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud-Native Application Platforms for the Second Consecutive Year Connect with Red Hat Learn more about Red Hat Get more news in the Red Hat newsroom Read the Red Hat blog Follow Red Hat on X Follow Red Hat on Instagram Watch Red Hat videos on YouTube Follow Red Hat on LinkedIn Gartner Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Red Hat, Inc. Red Hat is the open hybrid cloud technology leader, delivering a trusted, consistent and comprehensive foundation for transformative IT innovation and AI applications. Its portfolio of cloud, developer, AI, Linux, automation and application platform technologies enables any application, anywhere—from the datacenter to the edge. As the world's leading provider of enterprise open-source software solutions, Red Hat invests in open ecosystems and communities to solve tomorrow's IT challenges. Collaborating with partners and customers, Red Hat helps them build, connect, automate, secure and manage their IT environments, supported by consulting services and award-winning training and certification offerings. Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on the company's current assumptions regarding future business and financial performance. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. ### Red Hat, the Red Hat logo and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. For further information, please contact: Orient Planet Group (OPG) Email: media@ Website:
Crypto Insight
8 hours ago
- Crypto Insight
Arthur Hayes buys ETH back at higher prices, pinky swears to never sell
BitMEX co-founder and Bitcoin billionaire Arthur Hayes has bought back into Ethereum just a week after selling a large tranche. Onchain data shows that Hayes offloaded 2,373 Ether, worth roughly $8.32 million at the time, when the token was trading near $3,507. The sale, which occurred about a week ago, locked in profits before Ether's latest rally. In a reversal, the crypto analyst moved out $10.5 million in USDC across multiple transactions on Saturday, with the stablecoins directed toward purchasing ETH at prices above $4,150, significantly higher than his earlier exit point. 'Had to buy it all back, do you forgive me @fundstrat?' he wrote on X, tagging Tom Lee, the co-founder and head of research at FS Insight by Fundstrat. 'I pinky swear, I'll never take profit again,' he added. Hayes warns of crypto drop Last week, Hayes, who is chief investment officer of Maelstrom Fund, warned that mounting macroeconomic pressures could pull Bitcoin back toward $100,000. Citing renewed tariff fears after the weak July Non-Farm Payrolls report, which showed only 73,000 new US jobs, Hayes said sluggish credit growth in major economies could weigh on nominal GDP and push Bitcoin and Ether lower toward $100,000 and $3,000, respectively. In anticipation, Hayes sold over $13 million worth of crypto, including $8.32 million in ETH, $4.62 million in Ethena, and $414,700 in Pepe. Institutions scoop up $4.17 billion in ETH Since July 10, more than 1.035 million ETH, worth roughly $4.17 billion, has been accumulated by a cluster of unknown whales and institutions through exchanges and institutional trading platforms, according to data accumulated by EmberCN. The surge in buying activity coincided with Ethereum's strong price rally, climbing from $2,600 to $4,000 within the month, a 45% increase. EmberCN said most of the ETH amassed by these addresses is likely held by institutions or US public companies building ETH reserves, excluding entities like SBET whose addresses are publicly known. The average acquisition price for these holdings is estimated at around $3,546. Source:
