Tesla driver, who was involved in a fatal accident by turning on the Autopilot feature in the USA more than two years ago, was accused of killing two people with the vehicle. The charges against 27-year-old car owner Kevin George Aziz Riad represent the first serious charges for the fatal accident involving a driver using Tesla’s popular self-driving system.

Kevin George Aziz Riad was allegedly behind the wheel of a Tesla Model S, which came off a highway in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena in December 2019, ran a red light and crashed into a Honda Civic. Two people, Gilberto Alcazar Lopez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez, who were traveling in the Civic, died in the accident.

Driver charged in fatal accident by Tesla pilot

The case was filed last October, though Los Angeles County prosecutors brought the charges against the Riad to light last week.

Other lawsuits have been filed in the US regarding automated driving systems, but Riad’s accusations represent the first directly linked to Tesla’s widely used Autopilot technology.

Tesla’s Autopilot can control steering, speed and braking by itself. An estimated 765,000 Tesla vehicles are currently equipped with this technology in the US.

Numerous accidents involving Autopilot are being investigated by the NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board. Ever since the autopilot crashes started, Tesla has continued to update the software to prevent drivers from misusing the feature.

The electric car giant, which did not make a statement about this fatal accident, warned that Autopilot and the more sophisticated “Full Self-Driving” system should not be 100% trusted, drivers should always be careful and be ready to react at any moment.