Tesla was ordered to pay $329 million due to a fatal self-driving car accident six years ago

According to the Zhitong Finance APP, a jury in Miami, Florida, has ruled that Tesla (TSLA.US) is partially responsible for a fatal autonomous driving accident in 2019, ordering the company to pay a total of $329 million in damages to the victims' families and a survivor.

Of this amount, $129 million is for compensatory damages, while the remaining $200 million is punitive damages against Tesla. The plaintiffs' legal team requested approximately $345 million in damages during the trial, which began on July 14 in the Southern District Court of Florida.

The focus of the case is on who should bear responsibility for the fatal accident. The vehicle owner, George McGee, was driving a Tesla Model S electric car equipped with the "Enhanced Autopilot" system. The accident occurred in Key Largo, Florida, when McGee accidentally dropped his phone while driving. In an attempt to pick up the phone, the vehicle accelerated through an intersection without slowing down, reaching speeds over 60 miles per hour, and subsequently crashed into a parked car on the side of the road. The owner of the parked car was standing on the other side and was directly affected by the impact.

The accident resulted in the death of 22-year-old Naibel Benavides, whose body was found about 75 feet from the point of impact. Her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, survived but suffered multiple fractures, severe brain injuries, and psychological trauma.

Plaintiff attorney Brett Schreiber stated in a press release: "Tesla knowingly designed its autonomous driving system for highway use only, yet deliberately did not restrict its use on other roads; meanwhile, Musk publicly claimed that 'Autopilot drives better than humans.' Tesla's lies have turned our roads into their technology testing grounds, ultimately harming ordinary Americans like Naibel and Dillon."

After the verdict was announced, the plaintiffs' families and lawyers embraced in celebration, while survivor Angulo tightly hugged his mother in court, visibly emotional.

Tesla later stated to the media that it would appeal, claiming, "Today's ruling is wrong and will hinder progress in automotive safety, jeopardizing Tesla's and the entire industry's efforts to develop and promote life-saving technologies."

This ruling comes at a critical moment as Tesla CEO Musk is working to sell his autonomous driving vision to investors, emphasizing the company's ability to operate a fleet of autonomous taxis on U.S. roads and assuring that its system is safe enough. However, on Friday, Tesla's stock price fell over 1.8%, with a cumulative decline of 25% this year, making it one of the largest declines among major tech companies.

The ruling in this case could have significant implications for similar lawsuits in the future. Currently, there are about ten lawsuits against Tesla's autonomous driving systems (including Autopilot and FSD, or "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)") ongoing in the U.S., most of which relate to incidents occurring while the system was activated.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began investigating potential safety defects in the Autopilot system as early as 2021, and Tesla has since conducted multiple OTA (over-the-air) software updates to the system The agency has also launched a second investigation, which is still ongoing, aimed at assessing whether Tesla's "recall remedy" proposed for the issue of stationary emergency vehicles is effective.

NHTSA has also warned Tesla that some of its promotions on social media may mislead users into believing that the vehicles can achieve full autonomous driving, while the user manual clearly states that the driver must be ready to control the steering wheel and brakes at all times during vehicle operation.

According to data from the website TeslaDeaths.com, which tracks accidents related to Tesla's autonomous driving, there have been at least 58 fatal accidents that occurred shortly after the driver activated the Autopilot system