U.S. probes Tesla Autopilot, steering wheels that can come off

DETROIT — U.S. safety regulators are turning up the heat on Tesla, announcing investigations into steering wheels coming off some SUVS and a fatal crash involving a Tesla suspected of using an automated driving system when it ran into a parked firetruck in California.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it is launching a special crash-investigation team to probe the Feb. 18 crash involving a Tesla Model S and a ladder truck from the Contra Costa County fire department.

The firetruck probe is part of a larger investigation by the agency into multiple instances of Teslas using the automaker’s Autopilot system crashing into parked emergency vehicles that are tending to other crashes. NHTSA has become more aggressive in pursuing safety problems with Teslas in the past year, announcing multiple recalls and investigations.

The driver of the 2014 Tesla Model S was killed in the crash and a passenger critically injured. Four firefighters were treated for minor injuries, and the $1.4 million ladder truck was damaged.

NHTSA is investigating how the Autopilot system detects and responds to emergency vehicles parked on highways. At least 14 Teslas have crashed into emergency vehicles nationwide while using the system.

Automated driving systems aren’t always involved in the crashes that NHTSA sends investigators to. For instance, the Ohio State Highway Patrol determined that a Tesla that hit one of its patrol cars in November was not operating on “any type of autonomous mode.”

Authorities said the California firetruck had its lights on and was parked diagonally on a highway to protect responders to an earlier accident that did not result in injuries.

Lewis Broschard III, chief of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, said his department is concerned about the risks that inattentive drivers pose to themselves, passengers and first responders.

“These unnecessary deaths, injuries, risks to firefighters, and loss of valuable equipment are all preventable,” he said, urging drivers to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles.

A NHTSA spokeswoman said she couldn’t comment on an open investigation when asked if the Teslas are posing a danger to emergency workers.

NHTSA has been scrutinizing Teslas more intensely in the past year, seeking several recalls and opening investigations.

Earlier Wednesday, the agency posted documents revealing an investigation of steering wheels that can detach from the steering column on as many as 120,000 Model Y SUVS. The agency said it received two complaints in which 2023 Model Ys were delivered to customers with a missing bolt holding the wheel to the steering column. A friction fit held the steering wheels on, but they separated when force was exerted as the SUVS were driven.

The agency says in documents posted on its website Wednesday that both incidents happened while the SUVS had low mileage on them.