The U.S. government road safety agency has added another Tesla-related fatality to the list of crashes it is testing due to the use of partially automated driving systems.
A special accident investigation team was sent to a July 26 crash on the Long Island Freeway in New York, in which a man was killed by a Tesla Model Y SUV, the Administration said Friday. national traffic safety.
The death brings to 10 the number of fatal accidents to which the agency has sent a team, nine of which involved Teslas. A total of 12 people died. The only fatal accident in which a Tesla was not involved was in March 2018, when an autonomous Uber test vehicle crashed into a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.
The New York crash is on an updated list of those investigated by NHTSA that was released Friday.
The New York City Police Department said in early July 26 that a 52-year-old man was hit by a Tesla and killed while changing a wheel of his vehicle, which was parked on the left shoulder of the freeway. Long Island to Queens. The Tesla driver remained at the scene and the department’s collision investigation team is working on the case, according to the statement. The department identified the victim as Jean Louis of Cambria Heights, New York.
The additional death was revealed about three weeks after NHTSA opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s partially automated driving systems and how they collided with parked emergency vehicles. The probe comes as the agency has become more aggressive in looking at automatic driving systems since President Joe Biden took office. For years, NHTSA has been reluctant to regulate systems, which have huge potential to save lives.
A message was left on Friday seeking comments from Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California. In the past, the company said autopilot is a driver assistance system and drivers must be prepared to intervene at all times. Tesla has been criticized by the National Transportation Safety Board and others who say it needs a stronger system to monitor drivers to make sure they pay attention.