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Tesla settles catastrophic autopilot accident
A Tesla Model X crash involving an Apple engineer named Walter Huang happened in 2018 while the car was on Autopilot.
On March 23, 2018, Walter Huang died in a Silicon Valley car crash after his Tesla hit a concrete median. Tesla was sued over the incident, but the company has recently settled the lawsuit.
The California Superior Court action, filed by Mr. Huang's family, was slated to begin this week.
The settlement details were not revealed, and it has been reported that the agreement is still pending approval from a judge.
Tesla contended that Mr. Huang had utilised the system inappropriately. Moments before the accident, he was engaged in playing a video game.
The company has successfully defended itself in previous trials in California by asserting that the drivers involved failed to adhere to its instructions regarding maintaining attention while using the system.
The electric vehicle (EV) maker is currently dealing with several lawsuits regarding crashes believed to be connected to its driver-assistant technology.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also looked into several accidents involving Autopilot.
Despite years of promises, Tesla has yet to launch an autonomous car.
Mr Musk announced on Friday that the company has exciting plans to introduce a self-driving Robotaxi in August.
At a time when the company was grappling with declining sales, a settlement was reached with Mr. Huang's family.
Delivery numbers took a significant hit in the first quarter of this year due to various challenges faced by Tesla, including a fire at its European factory, disruptions in global shipping, and increased competition.
Despite intensified competition from companies like BYD, Tesla has been forced to lower its prices multiple times. Unfortunately, more is needed to offset the decline in demand, particularly in crucial markets like China.
The value of Tesla's shares has decreased by nearly 30% since the beginning of the year.
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