Tesla has resolved a lawsuit over a 2018 vehicle accident that killed an Apple engineer after the Model X, riding on Autopilot, drove off a highway in San Francisco, in line with files launched. The settlement changed into reached at the eve of the trial for the excessive-profile incident involving Tesla's motive force-assistance system.

Highlights:

• Tesla settled a lawsuit over a fatal 2018 Autopilot crash, revealing legal and safety concerns.
• Multiple lawsuits and scrutiny over Autopilot crashes pose financial and reputational risks for the company.
• Doubts persist about Tesla's self-driving capabilities, influencing its legal approach and industry perception.

Tesla is facing a slew of lawsuits over crashes connected to the suspected utilization of Autopilot, placing the business at danger of hefty financial consequences and brand harm.

The agreement, the terms of which have not been disclosed, comes as CEO Elon Musk is closely selling the self-driving era, which he has described as important to the future prosperity of the world's most valuable automaker.

Walter Huang, 38, died in a 2018 accident. His relatives claimed that Autopilot had led his 2017 Model X into a highway barrier.

Plaintiffs' lawyers questioned a Tesla expert about if the company knew drivers weren't going to observe the rules of the road while employing its driver-assistance system, according to examination transcripts released last month.

Tesla said Huang abused the Autopilot technology because he had been playing a video game shortly before the accident. 

Huang was killed in one of hundreds of accidents in the United States in which Autopilot was suspected, according to submissions to vehicle safety regulators.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigated at least 956 crashes during which Autopilot was initially claimed to be in operation.

The agency examined more than 40 separate inquiries into accidents involving Tesla autonomous driving systems, which resulted in 23 deaths.

"It seems strange to me that Tesla agreed to go this far openly and then resolve," said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina specializing in autonomous vehicle legislation.

"What this does, however, is indicate to other solicitors that we might settle. We may not always fight it. That is the indication."

The case follows two previous California Autopilot cases, which Tesla won by arguing that the drivers did not follow its instructions to maintain attention while using the system. 

Tesla has yet to demonstrate its ability to build an autonomous vehicle, despite years of claims by co-founder and CEO Elon Musk that one was just around the corner, an expectation that contributed to Tesla's soaring valuation.

Musk announced on Friday (April 5) that Tesla intends to launch a self-driving robotaxi on August 8, following Reuters' allegation that Tesla abandoned a cheap car strategy in lieu of robotaxis.

He also revealed a few weeks ago that Tesla will offer US customers a months-long trial for free of its driver-assist technology, Full Self-Driving.