A Chinese driver was killed in a crash while using Tesla’s Autopilot technology four months before a similar high-profile fatal accident in Florida, the victim’s father has claimed in a lawsuit. Tesla denies its Autopilot was at fault.
The court case against Tesla’s China unit and a local dealership, which began yesterday in Beijing, raises questions about the Autopilot system that first came under intense scrutiny after the death of Joshua Brown in May. He was killed when his Tesla Model S hit a truck in Florida.
Tesla has repeatedly insisted Auto-pilot is not a fully automated system and drivers should always keep their hands on the wheel. But this month it issued a major update to the technology amid pressure from regulators and drivers who say the system has been oversold.