In this story
Tesla by Elon Musk (TSLA) is under investigation by federal regulators after one of its vehicles equipped with driver-assist technology fatally struck a pedestrian.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Friday it had identified four reports in which a Tesla equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD) was involved in a crash. One of those accidents involved a fatality, while an additional report also reported a separate injury.
In each crash, they entered an area with “reduced visibility of the road,” such as fog or dust in the air, the NHTSA said. The reports were submitted between February and September.
The preliminary assessment, which is just the latest issue for Tesla’s self-driving efforts, will involve the more than 2.4 million Tesla Model S, 3, X, Y and Cybertrucks on the road in the US. Regulators will assess whether FSD is designed to properly detect and respond to reduced road visibility, whether similar accidents involving FSD exist, and whether any updates to the software have affected the software’s performance.
In April, the NHTSA said it linked Tesla’s Autopilot software to it more than 200 crashes and 29 deaths and opened more than 50 special crash investigations into Tesla vehicles believed to be linked to Autopilot. The Wall Street Journal (NWSA) reports that more than 1,200 Autopilot-related accidents have been reported to NHTSA since 2021.
Tesla is facing legal action in both federal and state court over incidents related to its driver assistance technology. One of the latest lawsuits It concerns Landon Emrby, who died in 2022 after a Model 3 Autopilot hit the rear of his motorcycle. In April, the Austin, Texas-based automaker organized with the family of 38-year-old Apple engineer Walter Huang, who crashed into a barrier on a California highway in 2018 while using Autopilot.
Tesla won two previous tests in California with Autopilot largely by blaming human error for the accidents – and one fatality – that have occurred. CEO Elon Musk has previously said that Tesla will “never seek victory in a just case against us” and “will never surrender/settle an unjust case against us.”
Tesla has been that too accused of false advertising by California’s Department of Motor Vehicles and investigated by the Attorney General’s Office for its marketing practices regarding its technology. The Ministry of Justice has opened a separate opening research at Musk and Tesla for their claims about Autopilot.
Musk has repeatedly overpromised and failed to live up to its claims about Tesla’s rapid progress in autonomous driving. The NHTSA’s latest investigation could also hinder Tesla’s efforts to gain regulatory approval and test its ‘Cybercab’ prototype. Self-driving car unveiled last week. Musk also suggested last week that Tesla will start using “fully autonomous, unattended” FSD in Texas and California by 2025.