Tesla CEO Elon Musk could be ordered to testify under oath in a lawsuit that blames Autopilot, Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system, for a fatal crash in 2018.
The provisional ruling, issued by a California judge on Wednesday and first reported by Reuterscame in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Walter Huang against Tesla over an accident that killed the Apple engineer.
The plaintiff’s lawyers want to take Musk to court to testify about recorded statements the billionaire executive made about Autopilot’s capabilities.
Musk had previously tweeted a 2016 promotional video for Autopilot as evidence that Tesla “drives itself” without “any human intervention.” In January, Ashok Elluswamy, director of Tesla’s Autopilot software, testified that the the video was staged using 3D maps on a predetermined route, rather than relying on on-board cameras, sensors and computing power to drive autonomously.
Huang’s family argues that the deceased relied too much on partially automated driving software, which ultimately failed him. Tesla claims that Huang was playing a video game on his phone before the accident and did not pay attention to the vehicle’s warnings.
A hearing has been set for Thursday on whether to depose Musk.
Reuters reports that Musk is likely to be questioned about a 2016 statement cited by the plaintiffs in which he allegedly said: “A Model S and a Model X, at this point, can drive autonomously more safely than a person. Right now.”
Tesla’s lawyers have opposed the request in court documents. They said Musk cannot remember the details of the statements the plaintiffs want to question him about, and that he is often the subject of “fake” videos, according to Reuters.
Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Evette Pennypacker said Tesla’s arguments were “deeply concerning” because they imply that, as a famous person, Musk is more of a target for deep forgeries, which would make his public statements immune. The result would be that Musk and other famous people could avoid taking ownership of what they say and do in the future.
TechCrunch was unable to obtain comment from Tesla, which dissolved its press office in 2020.
The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial on July 31. Will be added to the growing list of litigation and regulatory scrutiny at the automaker for its Autopilot system, which includes a criminal investigation by the United States Department of Justice.
That being said, last week Tesla had a great victory in court about a similar case. A Tesla owner sued the company in 2020, saying his Model S veered onto a sidewalk while on autopilot and an airbag deployed so violently it caused medical harm. A Los Angeles Superior Court jury ruled that the autopilot function did not fail.
—————————————————-
Source link