Tesla is seeking help from Apple to prove an engineer who was killed in a fiery crash while his vehicle was on Autopilot mode was playing games on his phone at the time of the smash.
Walter Huang died when his Tesla Model X hit a concrete barrier on a California freeway in March 2018.
An investigation by the US National Transportation Safety Board revealed the Apple engineer was using his smartphone and did not have his hands on the wheel at the time of the crash.
Lawyers from Tesla say analysis of his iPhone showed that he was playing Sega’s Total War: Three Kingdoms when the collision occurred, Mercury News reports.
But attorneys for Huang’s family, who are attempting to sue the automaker, argued that Tesla cannot prove Huang was playing the game just because the app was open on his screen.
Tesla has said Apple engineer Walter Huang who was killed in a fiery crash while his vehicle was in self-driving mode was playing at the time
Huang died when his Tesla Model X hit a concrete barrier on a California freeway in March 2018. Pictured Huang with wife Sevonne
Lawyers from Tesla say analysis of his iPhone showed that he was playing Sega’s Total War: Three Kingdoms when the collision occurred
Both sides are battling over whether Tesla can call Apple engineering manager James Harding as witness.
Harding analyzed Huang’s phone and determined it ‘suggests possible user interaction, which might be a screen touch or button press’.
His family’s lawyers countered in a court filing that Tesla deliberately hid its questioning of Harding from them until after pretrial fact-finding deadlines.
They are pushing Apple to hand over more information, but the tech giant is resisting as it does not want to hand over confidential material.
The US NTSB investigation was unable to provide a definitive reason for the crash.
It found it was likely to a combination of ‘limitations’ with the autopilot software and ‘lack of response due to distraction likely from a cell phone game application and overreliance’ on the self-driving feature.
The body also slammed California officials for failing to fix the barrier after it was damaged in another crash 11 days prior to when Huang was killed.
Huang’s 2017 Tesla Model X was traveling at 71 mph when it crashed against the same barrier, which the NTSB determined had been damaged and repaired more frequently than any other left-exit in Caltrans’ District 4, which includes all of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7 million people.
Huang’s 2017 Tesla Model X was traveling at 71 mph when it crashed against a barrier which had been impacted in a collision just 11 days prior
Attorneys for Huang’s family have argued that Tesla cannot prove he was playing the game just because the app was open on his screen
Tesla says Autopilot is intended for driver assistance and that drivers must be ready to intervene at all times. The company says drivers should have both hands on the wheel and stay in control of the vehicle
Autopilot is a partially automated system designed to keep a vehicle in its lane and keep a safe distance from vehicles in front of it. It also can change lanes with driver approval.
Tesla says Autopilot is intended for driver assistance and that drivers must be ready to intervene at all times. The company says drivers should have both hands on the wheel and stay in control of the vehicle.
However, Huang had earlier complained to his wife, his brother and a friend that Autopilot had previously veered his SUV toward the same barrier where he would later crash.
Huang, a software engineer, discussed with the friend how a patch to the Autopilot software affected its performance and made the Model X veer.
Sometime prior to the crash, the father-of-two took his Tesla to a service center to fix a ‘navigation error,’ according to the attorney, but Tesla could not duplicate the problem and it was not repaired.
Tesla has not publicly commented on the Autopilot flaw Huang had described.
The two-month trial is set to start next week in state court in San Jose.
Tesla voluntarily recalled two million vehicles last year after safety officials ruled found that Autopilot failed to ensure drivers stay attentive.
Crash victims’ families have argued this judgement supports their claims over the defectiveness of Autopilot.
However, Tesla has prevailed in two other California trials, including one which involved a fatal crash.
In response to the lawsuit, brought by Huang’s wife Sevonne, Tesla said they are ‘incredibly sorry’ for her loss but blamed the accident on her husband.
They said Walter did not have his hands on the wheel at the time of the crash, despite repeated warnings to take control of the vehicle.
‘Tesla autopilot does not prevent all accidents – such a standard would be impossible – but it makes them much less likely to occur,’ the company said in a statement.