San Francisco: A jury in the United States has ordered electric car-maker Tesla to pay over $240 million to victims of a 2019 crash that was allegedly caused by the company's faulty "Autopilot" driver assistance technology. 

As alleged by the victims, the jury found Tesla's system partially responsible for the crash. Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, was killed and her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, was seriously injured when a Tesla Model 3 crashed into them while they were stargazing on the roadside late at night.

While the Tesla driver admitted to being distracted by his cellphone, the jury concluded that Tesla’s Autopilot technology also failed and that the company could not wash its hands of responsibility.

The jury awarded $200 million in punitive damages, plus $59 million in compensatory damages to Leon's family and $70 million in damages to Angulo, according to court records.

The ruling recognised that technology malfunctions, such as those of driver-assist systems or "autopilot," will be accounted for with moral responsibility, even if there is human error. According to multiple reports, Tesla had either settled similar lawsuits out of court or had them dismissed before trial. This case broke the pattern and will embolden many individuals to seek justice in court, according to multiple reports.

The victim's lawyers accused Tesla of concealing crucial evidence, including video and data recorded moments before the crash. Tesla stated in court that the footage did not exist, but a forensic expert unearthed the exact data Tesla claimed was missing, proving the company had it all along. Tesla then said that it had committed an honest mistake.

The verdict arrives when Elon Musk is preparing to launch Tesla’s driverless taxi services in select cities later this year. Tesla, however, has upgraded its Autopilot system significantly since this crash in 2019, but the verdict will question the real-world reliability of its software. (IANS)