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Two US lawmakers asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a briefing on its investigations into crashes involving Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) EVs using advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) called Autopilot, Reuters reported citing a letter seen by the news outlet.US Senator Gary Peters and Representative Jan Schakowsky, who chair subcommittees overseeing auto safety, in the letter to the NHTSA, said they were concerned that “federal investigations and recent reporting have uncovered troubling safety issues” at Tesla.
The lawmakers asked, “given the mounting number of fatalities involving Tesla vehicles crashing into tractor trailers ... has NHTSA considered opening a defect investigation into this issue?”
The letter added, “does NHTSA strike a balance between investigative thoroughness and addressing urgent, emerging risks to motor vehicle safety?” and whether the federal auto safety regulator has enough resources and legal authority to investigate ADAS properly.
Since 2016, NHTSA has opened 38 special investigations of crashes involving Tesla vehicles and where its Autopilot was suspected of being used. A total of 19 crash deaths have been reported in those Tesla-related investigations.
Last month, NHTSA said it opened a special investigation into the crash of a 2020 Tesla Model 3 vehicle that killed a motorcyclist in Utah.
In June, NHTSA upgraded its defect investigation into 830,000 Tesla vehicles with Autopilot involving crashes into parked emergency vehicles.
On June 15, NHTSA said Tesla reported 273 vehicle crashes since July 2021 involving Autopilot, more than any other automaker.
The lawmakers asked if NHTSA has determined whether Tesla has implemented safeguards to prevent ADAS “from being activated when the vehicle is not within the appropriate operating conditions?”
Picture Credit: The Verge
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