Tesla has been sued by five police officers who suffered injuries in an accident involving a Model X whose driver was drunk and using the Autopilot system .
The lawsuit refers to an accident that occurred in early 2021 in the Splendora area, Texas:
“On February 27, 2021, a Tesla Model X using Autopilot and equipped with Tesla's safety system crashed into police officers who were stopped in a blocked lane on the Eastex Freeway in Texas. All were seriously injured.“.
See also: Tesla drivers become 'careless' when using autopilot
The police have filed a lawsuit and are blaming Tesla, as they claim that the accident was caused by a "flaw" in the Autopilot system.
The lawsuit alleges that design and manufacturing flaws known to Tesla, and the company's failure to acknowledge and correct those flaws, resulted in inability Autopilot's to detect the police cars, which could have prevented the collision.
The Texas police also cite the ongoing NHTSA into accidents involving Tesla vehicles using the Autopilot system.
A lawsuit has also been filed against the restaurant chain Pappas Restaurants, which allowed the driver of the Tesla Model X to drink so much.
See also: NTSB: Tesla not ready for full self-driving mode expansion
The police wrote in the lawsuit:
“Pappas Restaurants Inc. owns Pappasito's Cantina, where the Tesla driver had been drinking heavily before the crash. The driver showed signs of intoxication at the time of the crash“.
Police are seeking millions of dollars in damages. Tesla makes it clear to drivers that they are responsible for their vehicle and that they must keep their hands on the wheel and be ready to take control at any time when using Autopilot.
See also: Tesla: Aims to release an electric car without a steering wheel
The lawsuit alleges that the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The Model X may have been using Autopilot, but Tesla is certainly not at fault for the driver being drunk and left to operate on Autopilot. On the other hand, Autopilot's inability to detect stopped cars is a major issue that Tesla needs to address.
Either way, Tesla's Autopilot is a level 2 driver-assist system and is not designed to avoid every possible accident, so drivers need to be careful, and certainly not drunk.
Source: Electrek
