It is believed to be the first felony prosecution in the US against a driver using a partially automated driving system. (PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)The driver of a Tesla car which was on autopilot when it crashed killing two people will stand trial, a Los Angeles judge has ruled.
Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, was driving the Tesla when it smashed into a Honda Civic at an intersection in the suburb of Gardena on December 29, 2019.
Both the people in the Civic, Gilberto Alcazar Lopez, 40, and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez, 39, died.
A Los Angeles County judge ruled on Thursday there is enough evidence to try Riad on two counts of vehicular manslaughter.
It is believed to be the first felony prosecution in the US against a driver using a partially automated driving system.
Police say that the Tesla Model S left a major road and ran a red light in Gardena and was doing 74mph when it smashed into the Honda Civic at an intersection.
The two Civic passengers, Mr Lopez, of Rancho Dominguez, and Ms Nieves-Lopez, of Lynwood, were on their first date that night, relatives told the Orange County Register.
Riad and a woman in the Tesla were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Prosecutors said the Tesla‘s Autosteer and Traffic Aware Cruise Control were active.
A Tesla engineer testified that sensors indicated Riad had a hand on the steering wheel but crash data showed no brakes were applied in the six minutes before the crash.
A police officer testified on Thursday that several traffic signs warning motorists to slow down were posted near the end of the freeway.
Tesla has said that autopilot and a more sophisticated “Full Self-Driving” system cannot drive themselves and that drivers must pay attention and be ready to react at any time.
The misuse of Autopilot, which can control steering, speed and braking, has occurred on numerous occasions and is the subject of investigations by two federal agencies.
The filing of charges in the California crash could serve notice to drivers who use systems like Autopilot that they cannot rely on them to control vehicles.
The criminal charges are not the first involving an automated driving system, but they are the first to involve a widely used driver technology.
Authorities in Arizona filed a charge of negligent homicide in 2020 against a driver Uber had hired to take part in the testing of a fully autonomous vehicle on public roads.
The Uber vehicle, an SUV with the human back-up driver on board, struck and killed a pedestrian.
Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed that it had sent a special crash investigation team to determine whether a Tesla involved in a May 12 crash in Newport Beach that killed three people was operating on a partially automated driving system.
