美国东部时间 2023 年11月 24日下午 12：04

作者：Iulian Dnistranhttps://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/W8obQg/s3/tesla-fsd-beta-fails-to-stop-at-pedestrian-crossing.jpg

路透社报道，佛罗里达州的一名法官发现了“合理的证据”，证明特斯拉及其首席执行官埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）和其他管理人员知道所谓的Autopilot高级驾驶辅助系统存在缺陷，但仍允许汽车不安全驾驶。

此前，棕榈滩县巡回法院法官里德·斯科特（Reid Scott）上周裁定，涉及特斯拉Model 3的致命车祸诉讼的原告可以继续审判，并对电动汽车制造商提出惩罚性赔偿要求，理由是故意不当行为和重大过失。

法庭诉讼与 2019 年迈阿密北部发生的一起车祸有关，当时一辆特斯拉 Model 3 在一辆 18 轮卡车的拖车下行驶，该卡车已经驶入道路，剪掉了特斯拉车顶并杀死了电动汽车的车主斯蒂芬班纳Stephen Banner。据路透社报道，原定于10月进行的审判被推迟，尚未重新安排。

作为允许原告进行审判的裁决的一部分，法官指出，班纳的妻子应该能够向陪审员争辩说，特斯拉在其手册和“点击生效”协议中的警告是不充分的。

法官写道：“可以合理地得出结论，被告特斯拉通过其首席执行官和工程师敏锐地意识到'自动驾驶仪'未能检测到交叉交通的问题。

斯科特引用了特斯拉2016年发布的一段宣传视频（嵌入如下），该视频显示其一辆电动汽车在没有人工干预的情况下行驶。在视频的开头，有一个免责声明说：“司机只是出于法律原因才在那里。他什么都没做。这辆车是自己驾驶的。”

“这段视频中没有任何迹象表明该视频是有故意意向的，或者这项技术目前在市场上不存在，”法官写道，并补充说，该视频显示的情况与班纳遇到的情况“没有什么不同”。

法官引用的同一段视频是另一起法庭案件的一部分，特斯拉Autopilot软件总监Ashok Elluswamy表示，宣传短片是经过剪辑的，该系统不具备当时显示的功能。

这一最新决定对这家总部位于奥斯汀的汽车制造商来说是一个打击。此前，该公司在加州赢得了两次关于所谓的Autopilot系统的产品责任审判。

原文阅读

Judge Finds Reasonable Evidence That Tesla, Musk Knew Autopilot Was Defective

After two wins in California, Tesla faces a setback in Florida.

Nov 24, 2023 at 12:04pm ET

By: Iulian Dnistran

A Florida judge found “reasonable evidence” that Tesla, along with its CEO Elon Musk and other managers, knew that the so-called Autopilot advanced driver assistance system was defective but still allowed cars to be driven unsafely, according to Reuters.

The news comes after Judge Reid Scott, in the Circuit Court for Palm Beach County, ruled last week that the plaintiff in a lawsuit over a fatal crash involving a Tesla Model 3 could proceed to trial and bring punitive damages claims against the EV manufacturer for intentional misconduct and gross negligence.

The court action is related to a 2019 crash north of Miami in which a Tesla Model 3 drove under the trailer of an 18-wheeler truck that had turned onto the road, shearing off the car’s roof and killing Stephen Banner, the owner of the EV. As per Reuters, a trial set for October was delayed and has not been rescheduled.

As part of the ruling that allows the plaintiff to proceed to trial, the judge noted that Banner’s wife should be able to argue to jurors that Tesla’s warnings in its manual and “clickwrap” agreement were inadequate.

"It would be reasonable to conclude that the Defendant Tesla through its CEO and engineers was acutely aware of the problem with the 'Autopilot' failing to detect cross traffic," the judge wrote. 

Scott cited a 2016 promotional video released by Tesla (embedded below) that showed one of its EVs driving without human intervention. At the beginning of the video, there’s a disclaimer that says “The driver is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.”

"Absent from this video is any indication that the video is aspirational or that this technology doesn’t currently exist in the market," the judge wrote, adding that the video shows scenarios “not dissimilar” to what Banner encountered.

The same video referenced by the judge was part of another court case where Ashok Elluswamy, director of Tesla's Autopilot Software, said the promotional clip was staged and that the system did not have the capabilities shown at the time.

This latest decision is a blow to the Austin-based carmaker. It previously won two product liability trials in California over the so-called Autopilot system.