The famous billionaire Elon Musk is again on the spotlight. There is enough proof to suggest that Tesla executives, including CEO Elon Musk, knew about the problems with Autopilot but still let the cars run when it was unsafe to do so. The court claimed they kept letting the cars run in dangerous situations. 

Legal Battle

Judge Reid Scott permitted the 2019 lawsuit related to the demise of Jeremy Banner to proceed to trial against the company. Business Insider cited Reuters report. Going back in 2019, Jeremy Banner tragically lost his life when his Tesla Model 3, operating with the Autopilot system engaged, collided with a tractor-trailer, resulting in the car's roof being severed. Subsequently, Banner's family filed a lawsuit against Tesla, alleging gross negligence and intentional misconduct, contending that the company was well-informed about Autopilot system shortcomings but continued to promote its capabilities.

The court found significant parallels between Banner's accident and a 2016 crash involving a Tesla Model S driver, Joshua Brown, both involving a failure to detect crossing trucks. This similarity led the court to conclude that Tesla likely had prior awareness of the Autopilot system's limitations, prompting Judge Reid Scott to allow the 2019 lawsuit over Jeremy Banner's death to proceed to trial.

Elon Musk's statements concerning Tesla's autopilot system have been subject to criticism. Notably, in 2016, he claimed that Autopilot was probably more capable than human drivers and that the issue with autonomous driving was essentially resolved. Musk subsequently issued a statement in response to a fatal incident involving Autopilot.

The judge underscored the ample evidence that reasonably supported the suspicion that Elon Musk and other executives were cognizant of the matters at hand. However, he added that the final determination regarding the case would be established throughout the trial.

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How It Pointed to Musk

As shared on Newsbytes, Judge Scott's decision was made after the testimony from Autopilot engineer Adam Gustafsson and Dr. Mary "Missy" Cummings. She is the director of the Autonomy and Robotics Center at George Mason University. Gustafsson revealed that Autopilot did not recognize semi-tractors or halt the car in Banner's accident.

Although cognizant of this problem, Tesla made no modifications to the cross-traffic detection alert system. The judge determined that Elon Musk was "keenly conscious" of the faulty autopilot issue but took no action to rectify it.

The judge found "reasonable evidence "to conclude that the billionaire knew about the problem. Still, he allowed it to be put into market for sale.

Tesla: Autopilot System

As shared on Tesla's website, Tesla boasts about its autopilot system. It claims that their version driveless car, is an advanced driver assistance system designed to improve safety and convenience while driving.

According to Tesla, it eases the driver's workload when used correctly. Moreover, they claim that Tesla vehicles come equipped with eight external cameras and robust vision processing, enhancing safety. Notably, Autopilot features in North American market vehicles now rely on camera-based Tesla Vision instead of radar for their functionality.

            

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