U.S. probes accident-prone Teslas
DETROIT — The U.S. government has opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot partially automated driving system after a series of collisions with parked emergency vehicles.
The investigation covers 765,000 vehicles, almost everything that Tesla has sold in the U.S. since the start of the 2014 model year. Of the crashes identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as part of the probe, 17 people were injured and one was killed.
NHTSA says it has identified 11 crashes since 2018 in which Teslas on Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control have hit vehicles at scenes where first responders used flashing lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board or cones warning of hazards.
The agency announced the action Monday in a posting on its website.
The probe is another sign that NHTSA under President Joe Biden is taking a tougher stance on automated vehicle safety than under previous administrations.
Previously the agency was reluctant to regulate the new technology for fear of hampering adoption of the potentially life-saving systems.
The investigation covers Tesla’s entire lineup, the models Y, X, S and 3 from the 2014 through 2021 model years.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which also has investigated some of the Tesla crashes dating to 2016, has recommended that NHTSA and Tesla limit Autopilot’s use to areas where it can safely operate. The NTSB also recommended that NHTSA require Tesla to have a better system to make sure drivers are paying attention.
NHTSA has not taken action on any of the recommendations. The NTSB has no enforcement powers and can only make recommendations to other federal agencies.
Last year the NTSB blamed Tesla, drivers and lax regulation by NHTSA for two collisions in which Teslas crashed beneath crossing tractor-trailers.
The NTSB took the unusual step of accusing NHTSA of contributing to the crash by failing to make sure automakers put safeguards in place to limit use of electronic driving systems.
The agency made the determinations after investigating a 2019 crash in Delray
Beach, Fla., in which the 50-year-old driver of a Tesla Model 3 was killed.
The car was driving on Autopilot when neither the driver nor the Autopilot system braked or tried to avoid a tractor-trailer crossing in its path.
“We are glad to see NHTSA finally acknowledge our longstanding call to investigate Tesla for putting technology on the road that will be foreseeably misused in a way that is leading to crashes, injuries and deaths,” said Jason Levine, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, an advocacy group.
“If anything, this probe needs to go far beyond crashes involving first-responder vehicles because the danger is to all drivers, passengers and pedestrians when Autopilot is engaged.”