The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has upgraded its investigation into Tesla vehicles equipped with partially automated driving systems (Tesla's Autopilot) following a series of crashes, the Associated Press reported June 9.
NHTSA is currently investigating 830,000 Tesla vehicles, nearly each one sold in the United States since the start of 2014, with the agency focusing on the engineering analysis of its automated driving systems.
NHTSA reported that it has found 16 crashes into emergency vehicles and trucks with warning signs, causing 15 injuries and one death. NHTSA first opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE21-020) in August 2021 to investigate crashes involving first responder scenes and vehicles manufactured by Tesla, Inc. that were operating in either Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control leading up to the incident.
Tesla's Autopilot is a group of advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) features offered by Tesla for Level 2 vehicle automation. It features traffic-aware lane centering, traffic-aware cruise control, automatic lane changes, semi-autonomous navigation on limited access freeways, self-parking, and the ability to summon the car from a garage or parking spot.
According to the AP article, "NHTSA began its inquiry in August of last year after a string of crashes since 2018 in which Teslas using the company’s Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control systems hit vehicles at scenes where first responders used flashing lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, or cones warning of hazards."
There is no expected timeline for the investigation to conclude.
