Tesla reaches a settlement with family attributing engineer’s death to autopilot system

Tesla settled a lawsuit out of court with an Apple engineer’s family that claimed the company’s autopilot feature was the reason for his fatal car crash.

The jury selection for the suit over the death of Walter Huang was set to begin on Monday, CNN reported. He died after his Tesla Model X hit a concrete barrier in Silicon Valley on March 23, 2018. The autopilot feature of the vehicle was engaged at the time of the crash.

The trial was set to put the feature itself on trial that critics have warned isn’t fully safe. Specifics of the settlement were not disclosed.

Tesla’s autopilot feature, which has been a major part of the company’s appeal above its rivals, has come under heavy scrutiny in the time since the crash.

Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a report saying that electric vehicles engaged in the autopilot feature are more likely to violate traffic laws, including “traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.”

The NHTSA is investigating other instances where autopilot may have contributed to a crash.

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To help solve the issue, Tesla sent out a software update in 2023. Last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also announced the implementation of an improved self-driving feature in all of its cars.

“Going forward, it is mandatory in North America to install and activate FSD V12.3.1 and take customers on a short test ride before handing over the car,” Musk’s memo said, according to Bloomberg. “Almost no one actually realizes how well (supervised) FSD actually works. I know this will slow down the delivery process, but it is nonetheless a hard requirement.”