Tesla ordered to pay $240 million after fatal crash of self-driving car

The accident involves a 2019 accident involving a Tesla Model S, which was using Tesla's Autopilot driver assistance system.

The Tesla driver wasn't paying attention when he tried to grab his phone, which had fallen just before the accident. The car continued on autopilot, ignored a stop sign at an intersection, and struck the victims. They were standing next to their parked car at the time, the BBC reports .

Tesla was sued by the family of the 22-year-old victim who died. Her boyfriend, who is scarred for life by the accident, was involved in the case. A Florida jury ruled in the family's favor and that Tesla must pay.

Tesla strongly disagrees with the ruling, the company wrote in a statement. The accident was entirely the fault of the driver "who drove through an intersection with his foot on the gas pedal" and "drove recklessly." Tesla says the driver-assist system could never have prevented the crash in that way. The company will appeal.

The driver said during the trial that he expected Autopilot to help him if something went wrong or if he made a mistake. He was also sued by the victims and settled with them for an undisclosed amount.

Last month, Tesla settled another lawsuit involving a fatal Autopilot accident in which a man crashed into the underside of a semi-trailer truck at nearly 70 miles per hour .

Tesla has been under fire in recent months because of CEO Elon Musk, who meddled in politics and worked for the Donald Trump administration: