SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Tesla has settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a Silicon Valley engineer who died in a crash while relying on the company’s semi-autonomous driving software.
The amount Tesla paid to settle the case was not disclosed in court documents filed Monday, just a day before the trial stemming from the 2018 crash on a San Francisco Bay Area highway was scheduled to begin. In a court filing requesting to keep the sum private, Tesla said it agreed to settle the case in order to “end years of litigation.”
Shares of Tesla Inc., down 30% this year, slipped 1% before the market opened Tuesday.
The family of Walter Huang filed a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit in 2019 seeking to hold Tesla — and, by extension, its CEO Elon Musk — liable for repeatedly exaggerating the capabilities of Tesla’s self-driving car technology. They claimed the technology, dubbed Autopilot, was promoted in egregious ways that caused vehicle owners to believe they didn’t have to remain vigilant while they were behind the wheel.
Evidence indicated that Huang was playing a video game on his iPhone when he crashed into a concrete highway barrier on March 23, 2018.
After dropping his son off at preschool, Huang activated the Autopilot feature on his Model X for his commute to his job at Apple. But less than 20 minutes later, Autopilot veered the vehicle out of its lane and began to accelerate before barreling into a barrier located at a perilous intersection on a busy highway in Mountain View, California. The Model X was still traveling at more than 70 miles per hour (110 kilometers per hour).
Huang, 38, died at the gruesome scene, leaving behind his wife and two children, now 12 and 9 years old.
The case was just one of about a dozen scattered across the U.S. raising questions about whether Musk’s boasts about the effectiveness of Tesla’s autonomous technology fosters a misguided faith the technology, The company also has an optional feature it calls Full Self Driving. The U.S. Justice Department also opened an inquiry last year into how Tesla and Musk promote its autonomous technology, according to regulatory filings that didn’t provide many details about the nature of the probe.
Tesla, which is based in Austin, Texas, prevailed last year in a Southern California trial focused on whether misperceptions about Tesla’s Autopilot feature contributed to a driver in a 2019 crash involving one of the company’s cars.
FILE - The logo for a Tesla Supercharger station is seen in Buford, Ga, April 22, 2021. Tesla has settled a lawsuit Monday, April 8, 2024, brought by the family of a Silicon Valley engineer who died in a crash while relying on the company’s semi-autonomous driving software. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mattias Janmark scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 Tuesday night for their third consecutive victory and a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Evander Kane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored and Calvin Pickard made 20 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who can advance with a win in Game 6 in Edmonton on Thursday.
Edmonton was finally rewarded for dominating possession and shots throughout Game 5 when Janmark converted a rebound of Viktor Arvidsson's shot with 12:48 to play.
After some fraught final moments, Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-net goal to finish the Oilers' franchise-record third consecutive comeback playoff victory.
“I think the feeling was really there after the first period that we’re outplaying ’em, we got them where we want, and now we've just got to push," Janmark said. "Keep pushing the gas. And even when they scored, just try to get back, and Kaner got it right back, and away we went.”
Andrei Kuzmenko scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 43 shots for the second-seeded Kings, who are one loss away from their fourth consecutive first-round playoff exit at Edmonton's hands despite winning the first two games at home and holding third-period leads in the next two. Los Angeles led in the final minute of Game 4 before losing in overtime.
After a slow start, the Oilers have tilted the series decidedly in their favor. Edmonton has outshot the Kings 79-35 since the start of the third period of Game 4.
“They executed way better than us tonight,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “They were stronger. They beat us in every area of the game, except for the special teams, oddly enough. The goaltender was great for us to give us a chance. They were just better in every way. We can't look to one part of our game and think that was acceptable.”
Kuemper made 19 saves in the first period, and Los Angeles went ahead early in the second when Kuzmenko tipped home captain Anze Kopitar's shot during a power play. Kuzmenko recorded his sixth point of the postseason and his 23rd point in 27 games since joining the Kings less than two months ago.
The Oilers answered less than three minutes later with Kane's goal from the slot. Kane went unpunished later in the period for a knee-on-knee hit on Kings scoring leader Adrian Kempe.
Edmonton's 33 shots in the first two periods were the most allowed all season by Los Angeles, which was shut down after scoring 19 goals in the first four games of the series.
“We wanted to be desperate, like we were in the third period and overtime the last game,” Pickard said. “And we did it for 60 minutes.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper deflects a shot during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper, right stops a shot by Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) and Los Angeles Kings left wing Warren Foegele (37) go after the puck during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Kings right wing Alex Laferriere, left, puts a hit on Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Edmonton Oilers left wing Evander Kane, left, and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson scuffle during the first period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Edmonton Oilers center Mattias Janmark, left, celebrates his goal with right wing Vasily Podkolzin during the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings, Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
