598
Judge finds evidence that Tesla, Musk knew about Autopilot defect (www.reuters.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
41 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

A Florida judge found "reasonable evidence" that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and other managers knew the automaker's vehicles had a defective Autopilot system but still allowed the cars to be driven unsafely, according to a ruling.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 6 points 2 years ago (7 children)

When you have millions of units on the road, a one in a billion chance of the error killing someone on a drive is pretty much a guarantee.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago* (6 children)

    I don't know if that's the reasoning that will hold up in court. Would a judge say a 1 in a billion chance is "extremely likely? That reasoning would apply to all cars in general wouldn't it? Driving is potentially dangerous no matter what car you drive. People are guaranteed to die in car accidents everyday just by sheer volume and that would be true if Tesla didn't exist.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not apologizing for them. I'm just dubious of getting a conviction.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    It's not that people die crashing them, or even that a manufacturing/software defect causes the deaths.

    It's that Tesla knew that there was a software error that would almost certainly cause somebody to die, and intentionally chose not to address the issues for financial reasons. That's textbook depraved indifference.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (4 children)

    Reminds me of that cost of a recall calculation scene from Fight Club.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    And that's exactly why the depraved indifference rule exists.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    Are there any famous examples of that being used?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Schlitterbahn waterpark is a fairly recent high-profile example.

    The designers of the water coaster and co-owner of the park were charged with murder because they knew the ride was lethally dangerous and kept it running.

    In fact, they'd paid off people hurt in other near-death accidents to keep quiet.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •