Agency to review Tesla-firetruck crash

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will investigate an accident involving a Tesla Inc. Model S sedan that rear-ended a firetruck on a freeway near Los Angeles on Monday, the agency said.

The agency will send two investigators to conduct a field investigation of the crash that occurred near Culver City, Calif., board spokesman Chris O’Neil said in an email. The investigators will focus on the driver’s actions and how the vehicle performed, O’Neil said. They will likely arrive today.

The inquiry is the second by the safety agency into a crash involving Tesla’s Autopilot feature. The system combines advanced cruise control and automatic steering systems that allow for hands-free driving in limited scenarios, but Tesla says the human driver should pay attention to the road at all times.

The agency has previously said Tesla’s Autopilot system was a contributing factor in a 2016 fatal crash in Florida.

In that case, a Model S driver died after the car drove underneath a semi-trailer crossing a divided road that the Autopilot’s sensors failed to detect.

The latest investigation gives the agency’s highway division an opportunity to look for broader safety issues related to automated driving technologies and how Tesla’s Autopilot system functions, but it won’t necessarily lead to a full report and a meeting before the agency’s five-member board.