A court decided Thursday that the driver of a Tesla on autopilot must stand trial for an accident that killed two people in a Los Angeles neighborhood.

A Los Angeles County court ruled that there is enough evidence to charge Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, with two counts of vehicular manslaughter.

A court determined Thursday that a trial against a Tesla Model S driver in a 2019 incident in Gardena that killed two people may proceed.

It is thought to be the first criminal prosecution in the United States of a motorist who used a largely automated driving system.

According to police, the Tesla Model S left a motorway and blew a red light in Gardena on December 29, 2019, and was travelling at 74 mph (119 kph) when it collided with a Honda Civic at an intersection.

Gilberto Alcazar Lopez, 40, of Rancho Dominguez, and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez, 39, of Lynwood, were died in the collision and were on their first date that night, according to family.

A Los Angeles County court ruled that there is enough evidence to charge Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, with two counts of vehicular manslaughter in a 2019 incident.
Riad and a female passenger in the Tesla were sent to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Prosecutors said that the Tesla’s auto-steer technology and traffic-aware cruise control were illegal.

A police officer testified Thursday that at the end of the expressway, many traffic signs instructing cars to slow down were displayed.

Tesla has stated that Autopilot and a more advanced “Full Self-Driving” technology cannot drive itself and that drivers must be alert and ready to react at all times.

Misuse of Autopilot, which controls steering, speed, and braking, has occurred on several occasions and is the subject of two government investigations. The filing of charges in the California tragedy may serve as a warning to drivers who rely on systems such as Autopilot that they cannot rely on them to handle automobiles.