Federal safety officials have begun a probe into Tesla Autopilot systems and related technologies that require a driver’s involvement stemming from 11 separate crashes beginning in 2018 that caused one fatality and 17 injuries.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the 11 crashes involved various Tesla models where first responders responded or were even aboard vehicles truck by Teslas. NHTSA has confirmed that in all the 11 cases, the Tesla vehicles had either Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control engaged just prior to the crashes.
One person died in one of the 11 crashes, while 17 others were injured in seven of the crashes, NHTSA said.
NHTSA noted in a statement that there is no commercially available motor vehicle today capable of driving itself. “Every available vehicle requires a human driver to be in control at all times, and all State laws hold human drivers responsible for operation of their vehicles,” NHTSA said in an email to Fierce Electronics.
“Certain advanced driving assistance features can promote safety by helping drivers avoid crashes and mitigate the severity of crashes that occur, but as with all technologies and equipment on motor vehicles, drivers must use them correctly and responsibly,” NHTSA said.
Tesla did not respond to a request to comment on the probe, which NHTSA termed a “preliminary evaluation into Tesla Autopilot systems and the technologies and methods used to monitor, assist and enforce the driver’s engagement with driving while Autopilot is in use.”
The evaluation will look at the SAE Level 2 Advance Driver Assistance System (Autopilot) in Teslas from 2014-2021 for models Y, X, S and 3. Those models total about 765,000 vehicles. In addition to the 11 crashes, other similar crashes will be investigated, NHTSA said in a document on Friday.
The most recent crash occurred on July 10 in San Diego, with another in Miami on May 19. Most crashes took place after dark.
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