Tesla’s Autopilot in the spotlight at a Miami trial over a student killed while stargazing

A rare trial against Elon Musk’s car company began Monday in Miami where a jury will decide if it is partly to blame for the death of a stargazing university student after a runaway Tesla sent her flying 75 feet through the air and severely injured her boyfriend.

Lawyers for the plaintiff argue that Tesla’s driver-assistance feature called Autopilot should have warned the driver and braked when his Model S sedan blew through flashing red lights, a stop sign and a T-intersection at nearly 70 miles an hour in the April 2019 crash. Tesla lays the blame solely on the driver, who was reaching for a dropped mobile phone.

“The evidence clearly shows that this crash had nothing to do with Tesla’s Autopilot technology,” Tesla said in a statement. “Instead, like so many unfortunate accidents since cellphones were invented, this was caused by a distracted driver.”

The driver, George McGee, was sued separately by the plaintiffs. That case was settled.

A judgment against Tesla could be especially damaging as the company works to convince the public that its self-driving technology is safe during a planned roll-out of hundreds of thousands of Tesla robotaxis on US roads by the end of next year. A jury trial is rare for the company, whose suits over crashes are often dismissed or settled, and this one is rarer yet because a judge recently ruled that the family of the stricken Naibel Benavides Leon can argue for punitive damages.

The judge, Beth Bloom of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, issued a partial summary judgment last month, throwing out charges of defective manufacturing and negligent misrepresentation against Tesla. But she also ruled plaintiffs could argue other claims that would make the company liable and ask for punitive damages, which could prove costly.