Ruling clears way for lawsuit brought against company over fatal crash in 2019 in which Stephen Banner was killed near Miami

A judge has found “reasonable evidence” that Elon Musk and other executives at Tesla knew that the company’s self-driving technology was defective but still allowed the cars to be driven in an unsafe manner anyway, according to a recent ruling issued in Florida.

Palm Beach county circuit court judge Reid Scott said he had found evidence that Tesla “engaged in a marketing strategy that painted the products as autonomous” and that Musk’s public statements about the technology “had a significant effect on the belief about the capabilities of the products”.

The ruling, reported by Reuters on Wednesday, clears the way for a lawsuit over a fatal crash in 2019 north of Miami involving a Tesla Model 3. The vehicle crashed into an 18-wheeler truck that had turned on to the road into the path of driver Stephen Banner, shearing off the Tesla’s roof and killing Banner.

  • RedditRefugee69@lemmy.world
    237·
    1 year ago

    I get it there’s inevitable interference of interest here but we can’t really tell other people to not do things we don’t like in a free country

    Edit: this is clearly being misinterpreted. I am NOT talking about the Tesla. I’m saying a hypothetical, well-regulated self-driving car can be fielded without the permission of every other motorist that thinks they’re icky.

    • jopepa@lemmy.world
      241·
      1 year ago

      Yes, we can tell people they can’t do things. Welcome to society we’ve all been talking and decided on a bunch of things people can’t do in a free country. It’s public roads, it’s entirely reasonable to have restrictions on self driving cars, just like you can’t ride a tandem bicycle in the HOV lane.

    • mateomaui@reddthat.comEnglish
      18·
      1 year ago

      People get fined for having unsafe vehicles on public roads all the time. All that’s needed here is a regulatory body to decide self-driving cars are unsafe enough to revoke approval.

      • RedditRefugee69@lemmy.world
        116·
        1 year ago

        Oh hell yeah if it’s unsafe. I’m making the finer point that saying “you don’t have the right to drive that car next to me cuz it makes me feel weird” is overstepping

        • mateomaui@reddthat.comEnglish
          131·
          1 year ago

          I’m pretty sure the actual concern has less to do with “feeling weird” and more “because it and/or its inattentive driver may suddenly kill me” because of a dysfunctional self-driving system whose capabilities has been fraudulently marketed and has, in reality, repeatedly, killed people.

                • jopepa@lemmy.world
                  11·
                  1 year ago

                  Cool non sequitur, but I’m not making assumptions about you; I don’t know you. You said we can’t tell people what they can’t do in a free country, no step on snek’s core message. All the while you keep misrepresenting the comment your arguing against by using words like “icky” or “weird” which minimizes and dismisses their valid point of view and then complaining about people missing the nuance of your point of view. Is irony wasted on you?

      • RedditRefugee69@lemmy.world
        26·
        1 year ago

        I am referring to America which prides itself on freedom (and not enough on equality and collectivism) . I’m just saying it makes legal sense that you don’t need the consent of every other motorist to operate a self-driving car (if it passes safety regulations and assuming no problems of regulatory capture). Both of those assumptions are not applicable here

    • Fedizen@lemmy.world
      6·
      1 year ago

      truth in advertising laws exist for a reason

      also the people who frequently talk about a “free country” are often the same ones that want more police so they can do taliban style gender policing so it (the expression) seems deeply inauthentic at this point.

      • RedditRefugee69@lemmy.world
        12·
        1 year ago

        True about “free country” being used to justify a society controlled by extreme wealth. And I’m talking about another persons right to “drive” a self-driving car next to me. Not about these guys objectively being criminally ass-hole-y