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Tesla CEO Elon Musk.Xinhua via Getty Images
- The family of a Tesla owner, who died in a car accident while the autopilot was activated, filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging an unjustified death.
- Jeremy Beren Banner, 50, died when his Tesla crashed against a trailer in March of this year.
- In a statement issued following the accident report released by the Transportation Safety Board, Mr. Tesla said that Banner had pulled out of the steering wheel.
- The family of Apple engineer Walter Huang, died when his Tesla crashed against an obstacle on a highway while she was on autopilot in March 2018, the company also continues.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Tesla was hit by another lawsuit by the family of a man who died when his Tesla crashed while he was in autopilot mode.
The family of Jeremy Beren Banner announced Thursday through the intermediary of his lawyer, Trey Lytal, that she was suing the company for wrongful death.
Banner was 50 when his Tesla Model 3 collided with a trailer on March 1 at 68 km / h. The car traveled 1,600 feet after the collision and its roof was torn.
In its report on the accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated that Mr. Banner had engaged the autopilot about 10 seconds before the collision and that, when it crashed, "the vehicle did not detect the driver's hands on the steering wheel".
Following the NTSB's findings, Tesla said that after activating the autopilot, Banner "immediately took his hands off the steering wheel", which goes against the instructions given to drivers.
Read more: Elon Musk says that a "mbadive effort" is needed for Tesla driverless cars to achieve "99.9999%" safety.
When asked if Banner had his hands on the wheel at the time of the accident, Mr. Lytal said that Tesla owners often get alerts from their cars asking them to put their hands on the wheel while driving. They already had their hands on the wheel.
"It's not because their sensors do not feel that Mr. Banner's hands are on the steering wheel that does not mean," he said. Lytal also said that Tesla's sales language regarding autopilot promised "a totally autonomous car."
"We are so far from this technology, I understand, its [Elon Musk’s] The company is under pressure to sell and make profits … but we can not let technology and sales take control of security, "said Lytal.
He added that Tesla had at the time of the accident video footage from inside the car, which the family would have access to during the trial.
Banner's family is not the first to sue Tesla for a fatal autopilot accident. The family of Apple engineer Walter Huang, who died when his Tesla vehicle crushed against a highway obstacle in March 2018 on autopilot, filed a lawsuit against the company in May. alleging that the car was "defective in design".
Tesla did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
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