Tesla driver in fatal LA-area crash ordered to stand trial

COMPTON, Calif. — The driver of a Tesla operating on autopilot must stand trial for a crash that killed two people in a Los Angeles suburb, a judge ruled Thursday.

There is enough evidence to try Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, on two counts of vehicular manslaughter, a Los Angeles County judge said.

A judge ruled Thursday that a trial can proceed against a Tesla Model S driver in a 2019 crash that left two people dead in Gardena.

It is believed to be the first felony prosecution in the U.S. against a driver using a partially automated driving system.

Police said the Tesla Model S left a freeway and ran a red light in Gardena and was doing 74 mph when it smashed into a Honda Civic at an intersection on Dec. 29, 2019.

The crash killed Gilberto Alcazar Lopez, 40, of Rancho Dominguez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez, 39, of Lynwood, who were in the Civic and were on their first date that night, relatives told the Orange County Register.

Riad and a woman in the Tesla were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Prosecutors said the Tesla’s Autosteer and Traffic Aware Cruise Control were active. A Tesla engineer testified that sensors indicated Riad had a hand on the steering wheel but crash data showed no brakes were applied in the six minutes before the crash.

A police officer testified Thursday that several traffic signs warning motorists to slow down were posted near the end of the freeway.

Tesla has said that Autopilot and a more sophisticated “Full Self-Driving” system cannot drive themselves and that drivers must pay attention and be ready to react at any time.