Tesla could have prevented $ 242.5 million autopilot judgment, showing the registrations | Techcrunch

Months before a jury has granted a $ 242.5 million judgment against Tesla about his debt in a deadly crash of 2019, the automaker had the chance to settle for $ 60 million. Instead, Tesla rejected that offer, according to new legal registrations that were first Reported by Reuters.

The settlement proposal, which was made in May, was announced in a submission that Tesla asked to cover legal costs for the claimants in the case.

Earlier this month, a jury found in the federal court in Miami that Tesla partially blamed a deadly crash of 2019 that meant the use of the company’s autopilot assistance system. One person was killed when a Tesla model S with a steering machine was committed by an intersection and a Chevrolet Tahoe hit. The victims of the crash, Neima Benavides Leon and her friend Dillon Angulo, stood outside the vehicle on the shoulder at the time. Leon was killed while Angulo was seriously injured.

The driver, who was not a suspect in this case, was charged separately for his responsibility. The lawsuit that was filed against Tesla in 2021, aimed at Autopilot, which was involved but did not brake on time to prevent the intersection from going. The jury has assigned the director two -thirds of the debt and attributed a third party to Tesla. As part of the judgment, the jury granted the $ 242.5 million judgment as part of its decision.

Tesla said in a statement that was granted to Techcrunch earlier this month, that it is planning to appeal against the judgment “given the substantial legislative errors and irregularities during the process.”

Techcrunch has reached the lawyers of the claimants and Tesla. An external PR company that previously provided statements on behalf of Tesla refused to comment and led Techcrunch at the company’s press address. Tesla dissolved his communication team a few years ago.

The lawsuit, case 1: 21 CV-21940-BB, was submitted in 2021 to the American court for the southern district of Florida.