A Tesla driver has been ordered to pay over $23,000 in restitution for causing the deaths of two individuals in a 2019 car crash in a Los Angeles suburb. This decision was made on the same day that Tesla announced a recall of nearly all vehicles sold in the U.S.
The court hearing on Wednesday marked the conclusion of a case believed to be the first instance in the U.S. where prosecutors brought felony charges against a motorist using a partially automated driving system. This came in the wake of a series of fatal crashes investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, resulting in this week’s recall.
The recall impacts over 2 million Tesla vehicles and will involve updating software and addressing a faulty system designed to ensure that drivers remain attentive while using Autopilot. This action follows a two-year federal investigation into crashes that occurred while the Autopilot partially automated driving system was engaged.
The Tesla driver in the Los Angeles case, Kevin Aziz Riad, pleaded no contest to two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Although facing a potential sentence of over seven years in prison, a judge sentenced him to probation in June.
Aziz Riad’s attorney, Peter Johnson, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Authorities revealed that Aziz Riad, a driver for a limousine service, was behind the wheel of a Tesla Model S traveling at 74 mph (119 kph) when it exited a freeway and ran a red light on a local street in Gardena, California, on December 29, 2019.
While using Autopilot, the Tesla collided with a Honda Civic at an intersection, resulting in the deaths of the car’s occupants, Gilberto Alcazar Lopez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez. Both families have filed ongoing civil lawsuits against Aziz Riad and Tesla.
Donald Slavik, representing Alcazar Lopez’s family, expressed appreciation for any restitution but highlighted that it is a small fraction of the damages suffered. Their lawsuit is scheduled to proceed to trial next year.
“The recently announced recall, if it limits Autopilot use to controlled access highways, would likely have prevented this tragic incident,” Slavik stated in an email on Friday.
An attorney for the Nieves-Lopez family did not respond to a request for comment.
