Tesla on Monday settled a lawsuit that blamed the automaker’s driver-assistance software for the 2018 death of a California man, averting a trial that would have focused attention on the company’s technology several months before it plans to unveil a self-driving taxi.
The trial stemming from the death of Wei Lun Huang, an Apple software engineer who went by Walter, was scheduled to begin Monday with jury selection. The case was one of the most high-profile involving Tesla’s Autopilot software, drawing public attention and prompting an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The terms of the settlement with Mr. Huang’s children and other family members were not disclosed, and Tesla filed court documents trying to prevent them from being made public.
Testimony in the trial would have placed Tesla’s self-driving software under close scrutiny, further fueling a debate over whether the technology makes cars safer or exposes drivers and others to serious injury or death.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive, has said the company’s self-driving software will bring in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. Investors have used his claims to justify the company’s high stock valuation. Tesla is worth more than any other automaker, even though its shares have fallen in recent months.
Mr. Musk told X last week that Tesla will introduce a self-driving taxi, the Robotaxi, in August. If Tesla has perfected a vehicle that can carry passengers without a driver — something many analysts doubt — the development will help answer criticism that the company has been slow to follow up its Model 3 sedan and Model Y sport utility vehicle with new products.
Mr. Huang died when his Tesla Model X, a luxury SUV, veered off a freeway in Mountain View, California, and crashed into a concrete median barrier. In the lawsuit, Mr. Huang’s family blamed the defects on the autopilot, which it said lacked crash avoidance technology. The lawsuit also sought damages from California, claiming the barrier was damaged and failed to absorb the car’s impact as it should have.
Lawyers for Mr. Huang and Tesla did not respond to requests for comment late Monday. In legal filings, Tesla said it had settled “to end years of litigation.” The company had indicated in court documents that it planned to testify that Mr. Huang was playing a video game on his phone when the accident occurred. The family’s lawyers denied this.
While Tesla calls this software Autopilot and a more advanced version Full Self-Driving, neither system makes a car fully autonomous. The systems can accelerate, brake, keep cars in their lane and perform other functions to varying degrees, but drivers must remain engaged and ready to intervene at any time.
In December, Tesla recalled more than two million vehicles for a software update under pressure from US regulators who said the carmaker had not done enough to ensure drivers remained alert when using the systems.
The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the 2018 crash blamed both Tesla and Mr. Huang. The agency said Autopilot failed to keep the vehicle in its lane and that the collision avoidance software failed to detect a highway barrier. The board also said Mr. Huang was probably distracted.
