A provocative manslaughter case is about to kick off in Los Angeles later this month, involving a fatal crash caused by a Tesla vehicle that had the company's controversial Autopilot feature turned on.
It's the first case of its kind, and one that could set a precedent for future crashes involving cars and driver-assistance software, Reuters reports.
We won't know the exact defense until the case gets under way, but the crux is that the man who was behind the wheel of the Tesla is facing manslaughter charges — but has pleaded not guilty, setting up potentially novel legal arguments about culpability in a deadly collision when, technically speaking, it wasn't a human driving the car.
"Who's at fault, man or machine?" asked Edward Walters, an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University, in an interview with Reuters. "The state will have a hard time proving the guilt of the human driver because some parts of the task are being handled by Tesla."
The upcoming trial is about a fatal collision that took place in 2019. The crash involved Kevin George Aziz Riad, who ran a red light in his Tesla Model S, and collided with a Honda Civic, killing a couple who were reportedly on their first date.
According to vehicle data, Riad did not apply the brakes but had a hand on the steering wheel. Perhaps most critically, though, the Tesla's Autopilot feature was turned on in the moments leading up to the crash.
Riad is facing manslaughter charges, with prosecutors arguing his actions were reckless.
Meanwhile, Riad's lawyers have argued that he shouldn't be charged with a crime, but have so far stopped short of publicly placing blame on Tesla's Autopilot software.
Tesla is not directly implicated in the upcoming trial and isn't facing charges in the case, according to Reuters.
A separate trial, however, involving the family of one of the deceased is already scheduled for next year — but this time, Tesla is the defendant.
"I can't say that the driver was not at fault, but the Tesla system, Autopilot, and Tesla spokespeople encourage drivers to be less attentive," the family's attorney Donald Slavik told Reuters.
"Tesla knows people are going to use Autopilot and use it in dangerous situations," he added.
Tesla is already under heavy scrutiny over its Autopilot and so-called Full Self-Driving software, despite conceding that the features "do not make the vehicle autonomous" and that drivers must remain attentive of the road at all times.
Critics argue that Tesla's marketing is misleading and that it's only leading to more accidents — not making the roads safer, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has argued in the past.
In fact, a recent survey found that 42 percent of Tesla Autopilot said they feel "comfortable treating their vehicles as fully self-driving."
Regulators are certainly already paying attention. The news comes a week after Reuters revealed that the Department of Justice is investigating Tesla over Autopilot.
Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an investigation of accidents in which Teslas have smashed into emergency response vehicles that were pulled over with sirens or flares.
This month's trial certainly stands the chance of setting a precedent. Was Riad fully at fault or was Tesla's Autopilot at least partially to blame as well?
The answer now lies in the hands of a jury.
READ MORE: Tesla crash trial in California hinges on question of 'man vs machine' [Reuters]
More on Autopilot: Survey: 42% of Tesla Autopilot Drivers Think Their Cars Can Drive Themselves
The post Manslaughter Case Has a Strange Twist: Tesla That Killed Couple Was on Autopilot appeared first on Futurism.
More:
Manslaughter Case Has a Strange Twist: Tesla That Killed Couple Was on Autopilot
- Quietism and Activism | On the Mark - March 6th, 2018 [March 6th, 2018]
- Panarchy - Wikipedia - March 10th, 2018 [March 10th, 2018]
- Free Advice - April 6th, 2018 [April 6th, 2018]
- Markets - Casey Research - April 6th, 2018 [April 6th, 2018]
- Use volunteer in a sentence | volunteer sentence examples - May 7th, 2018 [May 7th, 2018]
- Christianarchism | the bastion of Christian anarchism! - May 12th, 2018 [May 12th, 2018]
- The Atlantean Conspiracy - May 15th, 2018 [May 15th, 2018]
- How to download videos from youtube on java? - Stack Overflow - June 10th, 2018 [June 10th, 2018]
- Southwest Pilot Was As Cool As A Cucumber During Engine ... - June 15th, 2018 [June 15th, 2018]
- Unschooling - Wikipedia - July 5th, 2018 [July 5th, 2018]
- Individual - Wikipedia - July 5th, 2018 [July 5th, 2018]
- Questions for Head of Department Interview | One Damn Thing - July 13th, 2018 [July 13th, 2018]
- The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State and Other ... - July 15th, 2018 [July 15th, 2018]
- News - WendyMcElroy.com - August 5th, 2018 [August 5th, 2018]
- Voluntaryism In Action: Fairy Tale Park In Oregon Gets A ... - September 26th, 2018 [September 26th, 2018]
- What is a Voluntaryist? - Zero Aggression Project - November 21st, 2018 [November 21st, 2018]
- Do it yourself - Wikipedia - December 8th, 2018 [December 8th, 2018]
- Voluntarism | Define Voluntarism at Dictionary.com - February 16th, 2019 [February 16th, 2019]
- Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The God of Atheists - February 23rd, 2019 [February 23rd, 2019]
- Quick and Clean: 40 Non-Processed Snacks That Meet Your ... - March 8th, 2019 [March 8th, 2019]
- Free State Project - Wikipedia - March 8th, 2019 [March 8th, 2019]
- The Voluntaryist - April 26th, 2019 [April 26th, 2019]
- Hatzalah - Wikipedia - May 11th, 2019 [May 11th, 2019]
- Introduction to Voluntaryism - The Art of Not Being Governed - May 19th, 2019 [May 19th, 2019]
- The Panarchist Solution to a World Divided - CounterPunch - December 21st, 2019 [December 21st, 2019]
- Bear Lake Hill Climbs were a success | News-Examiner - The Herald Journal - February 12th, 2020 [February 12th, 2020]
- Satyaniti and Swaraj constitute the historical backbone of India - Global News Hut - March 26th, 2020 [March 26th, 2020]
- Satyaniti and Swaraj constitute the historical backbone of the socio-political order of India, through the ages - OpIndia - March 26th, 2020 [March 26th, 2020]
- Satyaniti and Swaraj: The True Twin Pillars Of Society - Youth Ki Awaaz - March 26th, 2020 [March 26th, 2020]
- Black Friday Is Capitalism at Its Most Beautiful | Cole Webb Harter - Foundation for Economic Education - July 30th, 2020 [July 30th, 2020]
- Led Zeppelins Jimmy Page revealed the song that changed his life - Far Out Magazine - August 8th, 2020 [August 8th, 2020]
- What you need to know for Thursday, August 6 - Lompoc Record - August 8th, 2020 [August 8th, 2020]
- Rocket Propulsion Market 2020: Overview and Share Forecasted to 2027 - Market Research Posts - August 8th, 2020 [August 8th, 2020]
- Voluntaryism | Polcompball Wiki | Fandom - October 8th, 2020 [October 8th, 2020]
- voluntaryist.com - Fundamentals of Voluntaryism - October 8th, 2020 [October 8th, 2020]
- Black Friday Is Capitalism at Its Most Beautiful | Cole Webb Harter - Foundation for Economic - December 5th, 2020 [December 5th, 2020]
- Communism Quotes (1054 quotes) - Goodreads - November 13th, 2021 [November 13th, 2021]
- Frdric Bastiat Quotes (Author of The Law) - November 13th, 2021 [November 13th, 2021]
- Private police in the United States - Wikipedia - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes (Author of Democracy in America) - Goodreads - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Anarchist symbolism - Wikipedia - October 27th, 2022 [October 27th, 2022]
- Richard Epstein - Wikipedia - October 27th, 2022 [October 27th, 2022]
- Portal:Libertarianism - Wikipedia - October 27th, 2022 [October 27th, 2022]
- Frdric Bastiat Quotes (Author of The Law) - Goodreads - October 27th, 2022 [October 27th, 2022]
- Jeff Bezos' Housekeeper Says She Had to Climb Out the Window to Use the Bathroom - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- China Plans to Send Monkeys to Space Station to Have Sex With Each Other - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Huge Drone Swarm to Form Giant Advertisement Over NYC Skyline - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Hackers Just Took Down One of the World's Most Advanced Telescopes - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- AOC Says Her Twitter Account Broke After She Made Fun of Elon Musk - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Chinese Spaceplane Releases Mystery Object Into Orbit - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- That "Research" About How Smartphones Are Causing Deformed Human Bodies Is SEO Spam, You Idiots - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Meeting With Advertisers, Begging Them Not to Leave Twitter - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- US Gov to Crack Down on "Bossware" That Spies On Employees' Computers - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- This Deepfake AI Singing Dolly Parton's "Jolene" Is Worryingly Good - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Scientists Found a Way to Control How High Mice Got on Cocaine - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Scientists Spot "Stripped, Pulsating Core" of Star Caused By Horrific Accident - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Twitter Working on Plan to Charge Users to Watch Videos - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Scientists Use Actual Lunar Soil Sample to Create Rocket Fuel - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Cats May Be Tampering With Crime Scenes, Scientists Say - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- NASA Sets Launch Date for Mission to $10 Quintillion Asteroid - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Greta Thunberg Says UN Climate Conference Is a Scam and She's Not Attending - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- There's Something Strange About How These Stars Are Moving, Scientists Say - November 4th, 2022 [November 4th, 2022]
- Amazing Map Lets You Scroll Through the Entire Known Universe - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- NASA Tells Astronauts That Tweeting Isn't As Important as Staying Alive - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Ticketmaster May Have Finally Met Its Match: Furious Swifties - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- So Many People Are Using a Diabetes Drug for Weight Loss That Actual Diabetics Are Having Trouble Getting It - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Twitter Claims Video of Moon Rocket Launch Is Revenge Porn - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Experts Excoriate NASA Report Claiming James Webb Wasn't Homophobic - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Behind the Lawsuit Against Celebs Who Shilled FTX Before Its Spectacular Meltdown - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Elon Musk Locks Twitter Employees Out Office, Then Asks Them to Meet Him on the 10th Floor - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- "Elon" Plummets in Popularity as a Baby Name for Some Reason - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Experts Baffled by Why NASA’s “Red Crew” Wear Blue Shirts - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Startup Says It's Building a Giant CO2 Battery in the United States - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Panicked Elon Musk Reportedly Begging Engineers Not to Leave - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Celebrities' Bored Apes Are Hilariously Worthless Now - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Sam Bankman-Fried Admits the "Ethics Stuff" Was "Mostly a Front" - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- NASA Drops Stunning New James Webb Image of a Star Being Born - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Celebrities Are Officially Being Sued by FTX Retail Investors - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- Former Facebook Exec Says Zuckerberg Has Surrounded Himself With Sycophants - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]
- NASA Orders Press Not to Photograph Launch Site After Moon Mission Takes Off - November 20th, 2022 [November 20th, 2022]