Flying Cars Mass Production Could Expose Tesla To Lawsuits Over Safety Issues - US Expert

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (NNN-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- Launching mass production of flying cars could lead to legal proceedings and potentially multi-million-dollar fines for Tesla due to safety issues, Director of The IPO Initiative in the Eugene Brigham Department of Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate at the University of Florida's Warrington College of Business, Professor Emeritus Jay Ritter told RIA Novosti.

In August 2025, Tesla lost a lawsuit seeking damages for a fatal accident involving a vehicle operating on Autopilot, which occurred in 2019. The court ordered the company to pay US$243 million.

"The cost of losing US$100,000,000 in a lawsuit has resulted in Tesla deciding that 99.999999 per cent reliability isn't good enough. It will be difficult to get flying cars to this high a level of reliability," Ritter said, commenting on the presentation of a flying Tesla Roadster.

The company delayed the launch of its robotaxis for years precisely because of concerns regarding their reliability, the expert added.

Last week, Tesla unveiled its electric sports car, the Roadster. During a demonstration, the vehicle leapt over an obstacle, spun on its axis, hovered briefly above the ground, and then landed safely, flipping over as it came down.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump said that he was impressed by the presentation from US entrepreneur Elon Musk's company, though he is unlikely to ever find himself inside the new vehicle. Musk himself later vowed that the Roadster would be capable of performing tricks in autonomous mode and it would be "sentient."

--NNN-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI