<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A rare trial against </span><a href="http://9news.com.au/elon-musk" rel="" target="" title="Elon Musk"><span>Elon Musk</span></a><span>'s car company has begun in Miami where a jury will decide if it is partly to blame for the death of a stargazing university student after a runaway Tesla sent her flying 23 metres through the air and severely injured her boyfriend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lawyers for the plaintiff argue that Tesla's driver-assistance feature called Autopilot should have warned the driver and braked when his Model S sedan blew through flashing red lights, a stop sign and a T-intersection at nearly 110 kilometres an hour in the April 2019 crash.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tesla lays the blame solely on the driver, who was reaching for a dropped cell phone.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/elon-musk-grok-ai-chatbot-starts-posting-antisemitic-material-x/429c59ac-17f3-4465-bb39-99b548d1506b" rel="" target="" title="Elon Musk's AI chatbot is suddenly posting antisemitic tropes"><strong><span>Elon Musk's AI chatbot is suddenly posting antisemitic tropes</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The evidence clearly shows that this crash had nothing to do with Tesla's Autopilot technology," Tesla said in a statement. "Instead, like so many unfortunate accidents since cellphones were invented, this was caused by a distracted driver."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The driver, George McGee, was sued separately by the plaintiffs. That case was settled.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A judgement against Tesla could be especially damaging as the company works to convince the public its self-driving technology is safe during a planned rollout of hundreds of thousands of Tesla robotaxis on US roads by the end of next year.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/teslas-autopilot-system-is-in-the-spotlight-at-a-miami-trial-over-a-student-killed-while-stargazing/5bc33630-8fcf-48ea-8ca2-94a20e3ad8a9" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A jury trial is rare for the company, which often settles lawsuits, and this one is rarer yet because a judge recently ruled that the family of the stricken Naibel Benavides Leon can argue for punitive damages.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The judge, Beth Bloom of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, issued a partial summary judgement last month, throwing out charges of defective manufacturing and negligent misrepresentation against Tesla.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But she also ruled plaintiffs could argue other claims that would make the company liable and ask for punitive damages, which could prove costly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/tesla-sales-elon-musks-electric-car-maker-reports-record-sales-plunge-from-last-year/6e575033-8e18-4d1d-8943-444aab25c5d9" rel="" target="" title="Tesla reports record sales plunge from last year"><strong><span>Tesla reports record sales plunge from last year</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"A reasonable jury could find that Tesla acted in reckless disregard of human life for the sake of developing their product and maximising profit," Bloom said in a filing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 2021 lawsuit alleges the driver relied on Autopilot to reduce speed or come to a stop when it detected objects in its way, including a parked Chevrolet Tahoe that Benavides and her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, had gotten out of near Key West, Florida, to look up at the sky.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Tesla rammed the Tahoe at highway speeds, causing it to rotate and slam into Benavides, tossing her into a wooded area and killing her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In legal documents, Tesla denied nearly all of the lawsuit's allegations and said it expects that consumers will follow warnings in the vehicle and instructions in the owners' manual, as well as comply with driving laws.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tesla warns owners in manuals that its cars cannot drive themselves and they need to be ready to intervene at all times.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/jeffrey-epstein-investigation-donald-trump-defends-pam-bondi-amid-maga-fallout-over-her-handling-of-case/df507d36-2104-435f-be54-22d4297271d4" target="_blank"><strong><span>Trump attacks his own 'selfish' MAGA base over Epstein memo</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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