A U.S. government road safety regulator is investigating another Tesla-related fatality and its use of partially automated driving systems, AP reported Friday.
Why it’s important: Critics, including the National Transportation Safety Board, have said Tesla needs to implement a stronger system to ensure drivers pay attention to the road.
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent a special accident investigation team to a July 26 crash, which took place on the Long Island Highway in New York.
- A Tesla Model Y SUV killed a man while changing a vehicle wheel.
- Of the ten fatal accidents that led NHTSA to send a special investigation team, nine involved Teslas, by AP.
- The only incident without Tesla occurred in March 2018 when an autonomous Uber test vehicle ran over a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.
The big picture: The new addition comes three weeks after NHTSA launched a formal probe into Tesla’s partially automated driving systems, especially with regard to its collisions with parked emergency vehicles, by AP.
- Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.