this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2025
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Tesla loses Autopilot wrongful death case in $329 million verdict (arstechnica.com)
submitted 2 days ago by some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
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A representative for Tesla sent Ars the following statement: "Today's verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Tesla's and the entire industry's efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology. We plan to appeal given the substantial errors of law and irregularities at trial. Even though this jury found that the driver was overwhelmingly responsible for this tragic accident in 2019, the evidence has always shown that this driver was solely at fault because he was speeding, with his foot on the accelerator—which overrode Autopilot—as he rummaged for his dropped phone without his eyes on the road. To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash. This was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs’ lawyers blaming the car when the driver—from day one—admitted and accepted responsibility."

So, you admit that the company’s marketing has continued to lie for the past six years?

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[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm not sure what you're correcting. The autopilot feature has adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist, and auto steering.

Adaptive cruise control will brake to maintain a distance with the vehicle in front of it but maintain the set speed otherwise, lane keeping assist will keep the vehicle in it's lane/prevent it from drifting from its lane, and combined with auto steering will keep it centered in the lane.

I specifically explained that a planes auto pilot does those things (maintain speed, altitude, and heading), and that people don't know that this is all it does. It doesn't by itself avoid obstacles or account for weather etc. It'd fly right into another plane if it was occupying that airspace. It won't react to weather events like windsheer (which could cause the plane to lose altitude extremely quickly), or a hurricane. If there's an engine problem and an engine loses power? It won't attempt to restart. It doesn't brake. It can't land a plane.

But Musk made some claims that Teslas autopilot would drive the vehicle for you without human interference. And people assume that autopilot (in the pop culture sense) does a lot more than it actually does. This is what I'm trying to point out.