Tesla's Autopilot was not to blame for fatal 2019 Model 3 crash, jury finds

A California jury has found that Tesla was not at fault for a fatal 2019 crash that allegedly involved its Autopilot system, in the first US trial yet for a case claiming its software directly caused a death. The lawsuit alleged Tesla knowingly shipped out cars with a defective Autopilot system, leading to a crash that killed a Model 3 owner and severely injured two passengers, Reuters reports. Per the lawsuit, 37-year-old Micah Lee was driving his Tesla Model 3 on a highway outside of Los Angeles at 65 miles per hour when it turned sharply off the road and slammed into a palm tree before catching fire. Lee died in the crash. The company was sued for $400 million plus punitive damages by Lee's estate and the two surviving victims, including a boy who was 8 years old at the time and was disemboweled in the accident, according to an earlier report from Reuters.