Tesla’s Autopilot Under Federal Investigation for Accidents
Published: August 18, 2021
Following a series of accidents, Tesla’s Autopilot is now under investigation by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). The said agency is looking into at least 11 accidents involving the autopilot feature of Tesla.
The investigated accidents occurred in nine different states between January 22, 2018, and July 10, 2021. Most of them happened at night. According to the administration, seven of the accidents resulted in one death and 17 injuries. All of the Teslas in question had the Autopilot or the traffic-aware cruise control turned on preceding the crashes.
One of the most notable accidents was when a Tesla car hit the rear of a parked fire engine. In another accident, a Tesla car with no one in the driver’s seat crashed and killed two people in the car.
The authorities claim that Tesla’s marketing of the self-driving features is misleading. They fear that the features aren’t as reliable and mature as Tesla pitches them.
The NHTSA issued a statement saying that no commercially available motor vehicles can drive on their own. The agency reminded the public that all cars today require a driver to control them.
The federal agency will probe Autopilot features on 765,000 Tesla cars sold since 2014. It aims to assess the methods and technologies monitoring, assisting, and enforcing the driver’s engagement when the Autopilot is on.
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