Court filings on Monday revealed that Tesla has reached a settlement with the family of an engineer who tragically lost his life in a Model X crash in Silicon Valley six years ago.
The settlement comes just before a scheduled jury trial, which was set to commence the following week, in a wrongful death lawsuit. The lawsuit accused Tesla of failing to fulfill its marketing promises regarding driver-assistance and safety technology in its vehicles.
According to the court documents filed on Monday, both Tesla and the family of Wei Lun Huang, the deceased engineer, have agreed to a settlement. The exact amount of the settlement remains undisclosed, as Tesla has requested it to be kept confidential.
According to the original complaint, Huang had trusted that the Model X technology would prevent any harm to the driver by ensuring safe speeds, lane-keeping, obstacle avoidance, and proper operation on highways while in autopilot mode.
Tragically, in March 2018, while utilizing the autopilot feature on a highway in Mountain View, California, the Model X collided with a concrete median, resulting in fatal injuries to Huang, as stated in the lawsuit.
In their filings, Huang’s family asserted that Tesla was negligent and careless in the construction and promotion of the 2017 Model X.
Furthermore, US regulators concluded that Huang did not have his hands on the steering wheel during the accident, despite alerts from the Autopilot driver assistance software instructing him to do so.
Tesla has consistently defended the safety of its vehicles and Autopilot features, emphasizing that drivers must remain attentive despite the assistance provided.
