The trial for the fatal Tesla Autopilot accident begins, is Musk's "safest" promise facing scrutiny?

According to reports, Tesla (TSLA.US) will stand trial regarding its autonomous driving system's alleged involvement in a fatal accident in Florida in 2019. The case accuses the Autopilot system of the Model S of failing to recognize a parked SUV, resulting in Tesla bearing some responsibility.

The jury-involved trial began on Monday in federal court in Miami and is expected to last three weeks. Family members of the deceased woman, Tesla engineers, and automotive safety experts will testify.

It is understood that few Tesla accident cases reach the trial stage, as the electric vehicle manufacturer typically resolves most lawsuits alleging fatal technical defects through confidentiality agreements.

After facing consecutive stock price setbacks, Musk is under significant pressure from investors—first due to his close ties with Trump, and then due to the dramatic fallout in their relationship. As Tesla aggressively pushes forward with its autonomous taxi business, Musk has staked part of the company's future on autonomous driving technology.

Similar to previous cases, Tesla's core defense strategy in this case remains "driver error." Although the driver of the involved Model S had activated the driving assistance system, they were distracted by picking up a dropped phone and did not pay attention to the road conditions. The vehicle veered off course while crossing a T-intersection in Key Largo and collided with a parked Chevrolet Tahoe, resulting in the unfortunate death of 20-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon, one of two people standing outside the vehicle. The injured Dillon Angulo, along with the deceased's family, has sued Tesla for medical expenses, wrongful death compensation, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages, accusing Tesla of "reckless disregard for human life."

Tesla stated in a declaration: "The evidence clearly shows that the accident was unrelated to Autopilot technology. Like many tragedies following the advent of mobile phones, this accident stemmed from driver distraction. Importantly, the driver admitted to accidentally accelerating due to picking up the phone, which interfered with the vehicle's system. At the time of the 2019 accident, no collision avoidance technology existed to prevent such tragedies."

The focal point of the case is whether Tesla's Autopilot system has design flaws that prevented it from recognizing obstacles such as the end of the road, and whether it failed to adequately warn users of the risks associated with the system.

Michael Brooks, executive director of the consumer rights organization the Center for Auto Safety, pointed out that this case will be the first to test the liability theory against Tesla, and its ruling could become an important precedent for similar cases in the future.

In an interview, Brooks stated: "This case could set an important benchmark, allowing us to see how the jury weighs responsibility. The key will be how much responsibility the jury assigns to the driver and how much it determines Tesla should bear."

In June of this year, U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom dismissed allegations of "manufacturing defects" and "negligent misrepresentation." Previously, the plaintiffs had claimed that Tesla's promotion of its autonomous driving capabilities far exceeded the actual performance of the vehicle, but Bloom found the allegations to be unsubstantiated It is expected that the driver involved, George McGee, will appear in court, with the plaintiff's attorney claiming that his excessive reliance on the autonomous driving system stems from Tesla's failure to adequately inform him of the technology's limitations.

The jury will also hear expert testimony from Mary "Missy" Cummings, a professor at George Mason University. This scholar, who has long criticized Tesla's autonomous driving technology, was accused by Musk of being "extremely biased against Tesla" when she served as a senior safety advisor to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2021, which sparked a petition against her from Tesla fans.

According to court records, Cummings has served as an expert witness in at least two lawsuits against Tesla's Autopilot system.

Previously, Tesla won two lawsuits in California, with juries determining that the primary cause of the accidents was driver error (one fatal and one non-fatal). In a 2022 case in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the jury ruled that Tesla was only 1% responsible for the death of the 18-year-old victim—who died after his speeding Model S crashed into a concrete wall—while 99% of the responsibility was attributed to the victim and his father.

However, Tesla's nearly perfect litigation record hides risks: any adverse ruling could undermine Musk's long-standing claim that "Tesla is the safest car in the world." In the next nine months, Tesla will also face three lawsuits in California related to fatal autonomous driving incidents, along with another case in Houston awaiting trial—where a Tesla crashed into a parked police car at 70 miles per hour (113 kilometers per hour), injuring five officers