Although many would argue that autopilot and automated vehicles are the future, some are still skeptical about how safe they actually are. The doubts were fueled by the fatal car crash that happened back in 2018, which led to a lawsuit being filed, and one that Tesla is settling over.
Tesla Settlement with 2018 Crash
About six years ago, an Apple software engineer named Wei Lun Huang suffered a fatal car crash, which the family blamed on the Tesla Autopilot feature. As the case is awaiting trial, Tesla decided to settle instead, avoiding the court date altogether.
The terms of the settlement with the victim's children and other members of the family are not disclosed, and it may never be publicly revealed as the automaker filed couer documents which aim to prevent that, as reported by The New York Times.
While the details of the settlement will be kept private, those of the accident are public and can be analyzed by those who are wondering about the case. The accident happened in Mountain View, California on March 23rd, 2018.
The lawsuit, however, was not filed until a year later, with Huang's family stating that it was a malfunction in the Autopilot system that caused the crash and that Tesla should've given warnings to its drivers.
As the lawsuit states, the company should have been aware that "the Tesla Model X was likely to cause injury to its occupants by leaving travel lanes and striking fixed objects when used in a reasonably foreseeable manner."
The complaint also pointed out at the time that the vehicle did not have proper safety features such as automatic emergency brakes, which is something that Tesla vehicles have even then. Tesla also claimed that Huang did not have his hands on the wheel when the accident occurred.
As mentioned in Gizmodo, Tesla claims that the vehicle gave an audible alert and several vidual alerts throughout the drive that led to the accident, and that the car detected that Huang's hand were not on the wheel for six seconds until the wreck.
Avoiding Criticism Before a Launch
The timing of the settlement aligns with Tesla CEO Elon Musk's announcement of its plans to release driverless taxis in August. Huang's case might dig up issues about its automotive systems, casting more cynicism over Tesla's venture.
While the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features of the company work, the driver still needs to keep their hands on the wheel and keep an eye on the road. Supervision might mean that the system is not ready for a completely driverless operation.
Even other companies are struggling to continue or expand AV operations when it comes to cab services. For instance, Cruise has already been suspended for being involved in several accidents, one of which dragged a pedestrian across the road.
People are questioning whether companies have reached the level of advancement where automated vehicles are the safer approach to transportation. All we can do is wait and see what Tesla has in store for its August unveiling.
