A Tesla on autopilot killed two people. Is the driver guilty of manslaughter?

Re:A Tesla on autopilot killed two people. Is the driver gui... by simplicio on Thursday January 20, 2022 @09:02AM (#30009001)

According to the article, they already have.

The articles kinda vague on why exactly the driver is being charged, though. Reading between the lines, I suspect its not just because he had the autopilot engaged, but was engaged in some form of gross negligence at the same time (sleeping, playing videogames on his phone, etc).

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Re:A Tesla on autopilot killed two people. Is the driver gui... by NovemberWhiskey on Thursday January 20, 2022 @09:07AM (#30009055)

Failing to actively supervising the driving of the vehicle while autopilot is engaged is probably enough to sustain the mens rea for criminally negligent homicide.

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Re:A Tesla on autopilot killed two people. Is the driver gui... by sokoloff on Thursday January 20, 2022 @10:07AM (#30009775)

Isn't blowing through a red light directly resulting in the deaths of two people typically going to result in vehicular manslaughter charges? In other words, blowing through a red light is a sufficient amount of negligence in my mind for vehicular manslaughter.

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Re:A Tesla on autopilot killed two people. Is the driver gui... by simplicio on Thursday January 20, 2022 @11:54AM (#30011433)

I don't think so, though I'm not positive. The cases I see in the news usually involve some extra piece of wrong doing (being under the influence, almost exclusively).

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