THIRD TESLA CRASHES AMID REPORT OF SEC INVESTIGATION,
For the third time in two weeks, a Tesla electric vehicle has crashed with the driver telling authorities that the car’s Autopilot self-driving system was engaged at the time. Also on Monday, The Wall
Street Journal reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether Tesla violated securities law by failing to disclose more quickly a fatal accident in Florida in May involving a Tesla Model S that was in self-driving mode.
The SEC said it had no comment. Tesla issued a statement saying it has “not received any communication from the SEC regarding this issue.”
In the latest accident, Trooper Jade Schope of the Montana Highway Patrol declined to identify either the driver or passenger but did say the driver said he had activated the car’s Autopilot system. Both escaped injury.
Tesla said that it is looking into the crash and could not confirm whether Autopilot was a factor.
Joshua Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio, died May 7 in Williston, Fla., when his Tesla Model S Autopilot system allegedly failed to detect a tractor-trailer turning in front of the luxury electric car. The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that it has entered the investigation into the accident, along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The second crash occurred in July when a Michigan art dealer and his son-in-law were traveling in a Tesla Model X that hit a guardrail along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, crossed over several lanes before hitting a concrete median and rolled onto its roof.