It was a nuisance settlement, taking into account the fact that the guy had allegedly been drinking at a casino 3 hours east of Houston (it was not clear whether it was in Lake Charles where most go from here, or beyond 3 hours.
The point being, to have a BAC of .08, having "self driven" from a casino in Lake Charles would have required driving through some badly torn up highway with lots of lane changes, starts and stops, speed reductions, etc. The section of I10 between Lake Charges and Houston, for about half the distance, is a mess. I've made that trip numerous times in the last five years and the driving is at best tedious and at times questionable how the managed to call it even two TEMPORARY lanes. It makes one question how he could have driven the difficult part while more intoxicated than the easy part (roadwork is complete for the second half of that drive).
At any rate, a million dollars is money paid to make it go away and the case was weak or it would have been $10 Million or whatever.
Plainly a nuisance settlement. I'm impressed if the Tesla made it half way back from Lake Charles on auto pilot, particularly, a couple years ago or early when it was insanely difficult driving.
This payment, in no way, represents a loss by Tesla. A million dollars is a consolation prize. |
