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US officials suspect driver assistance technology played a role.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has initiated an investigation into a fatal crash involving a Tesla Model Y. The incident, which took place on July 19 in Virginia, resulted in the death of the Tesla driver. It is believed that the 57-year-old driver was relying on Tesla’s advanced driver assistance programs at the time of the accident, according to a report by Reuters.
According to the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office, the accident occurred when a tractor-trailer attempted to turn onto a highway from a truck stop and the Tesla collided with the side of the trailer and slid underneath it. The Tesla driver was pronounced dead at the scene, while the truck driver was issued a summons for reckless driving.
The summons suggests that authorities are holding the truck driver responsible for the incident. However, the NHTSA is investigating Tesla’s assistance program, which is designed to account for mistakes made by other drivers. This investigation is part of more than three dozen probes into crashes involving Tesla vehicles and their advanced assistance algorithms. Since 2016, the NHTSA suspects that the system has been involved in 23 deaths.
Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urged the NHTSA to implement stricter regulations for autonomous driving. In a letter, the NTSB expressed concerns about Tesla’s limited oversight and reporting requirements for its highly automated AV technology being tested on public roads.
Tesla’s Autopilot technology is designed to steer, accelerate, and brake within the vehicle’s lane, while an enhanced system assists with lane changes on highways. However, Tesla emphasizes that the system requires active human supervision and is not fully automated. The company has not yet responded to Reuters’ request for comment regarding the recent accident and the ongoing investigation by the NHTSA.