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Tesla ordered to pay $329 Million by Florida jury in fatal Autopilot crash

A Florida jury found Tesla responsible for the fatal 2019 crash of a Model S equipped with Autopilot and ordered Elon Musk’s automaker, to pay $329 Million to the family and survivor of the deceased woman.

The jury in Miami ordered Tesla to pay Naibel Benavides León and her ex-boyfriend Dillon Angulo $129 million as compensatory damages, and $200 million as punitive damages.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs claimed that this was the first trial involving wrongful death resulting from Autopilot. Plaintiffs sought $345million.

Tesla has been involved in many lawsuits involving its self-driving vehicles, but most have been settled or dismissed before trial. Tesla's attempt to dismiss the case was rejected by a judge

Early in the summer

Experts said that this could encourage other plaintiffs to sue the EV manufacturer.

Musk, the richest man in the world, could be hindered by Friday's decision.

Investors: How to persuade them

Tesla is a leader when it comes to so-called "autonomous driving" for private cars and robotaxis, which the company plans to produce next year. The shares fell by 1.8% on the Friday.

According to reports, Tesla intends to appeal. Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, and its attorneys did not immediately reply to multiple requests for comment.

The trial was based on an incident that occurred on April 25, 2019. George McGee drove a 2019 Model S, at 62 mph or 100 kph (100 km/h), through an intersection and into the victims parked Chevrolet Tahoe while they were standing next to it.

McGee reached down to grab a phone he dropped in his car and received no alerts, according to reports. He then ran through a stoplight and a stopsign before crashing into the SUV of the victims.

Philip Koopman is a professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on autonomous technology. The jury's only option to rule against Tesla would have been to find a software defect in Autopilot. It's a huge deal."

Angulo was said to have suffered serious injuries while Benavides Leon reportedly died after being thrown 75 feet.

Brett Schreiber said that Tesla designed Autopilot for highways with controlled access, but did not restrict its use elsewhere. Elon Musk also claimed in his statement that Autopilot was better than human drivers. He added that "today's verdict represents Justice for Naibel and Dillon's tragic deaths, as well as their lifelong injuries."

Tesla's quarterly sales dropped by more than 10 percent last month and its profit missed Wall Street expectations. (Reporting and editing by Sandra Maler; Additional reporting and reporting by Tom Hals)

(source: Reuters)