Tesla has reportedly informed U.S. regulators {that a} deadly crash involving a Model S earlier this yr concerned its automated driver-assist programs. According to Bloomberg, that’s the seventeenth deadly Tesla crash whereas the programs had been engaged since June 2021. The quantity would probably be greater, save for the truth that the federal government didn’t require automakers to submit knowledge on these accidents till then.
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We beforehand reported {that a} 2014 Tesla Model S crashed into the again of a firetruck within the early morning hours of February 18, 2023 on I-680 in Northern California. The firetruck needed to be towed away from the scene, and the Tesla needed to be reduce open utilizing a Jaws of Life to take away the injured passenger. Unfortunately, the driving force was declared useless on the scene. Four Contra Costa County firefighters additionally sustained minor accidents within the crash.
Bloomberg reviews that this crash was simply considered one of 66 reported accidents that had been included within the newest public launch of knowledge collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in regard to Level 2 automated driving programs. It’s unclear what number of of these 66 concerned Tesla autos.
NHTSA is doing a handful of probes into Tesla’s much-beleaguered driver help packages, Full-Self Driving beta and Autopilot. Bloomberg reviews that the group has requested CEO Elon Musk about tweets he made saying that FSDb could possibly be upgraded with a option to disable an alert when drivers take their fingers off the wheel.
NHTSA can also be asking for extra info from Tesla on how its program handles crash scenes on the facet of the street. The devastating accident with a fireplace truck is sadly not a one-off state of affairs.
The company was additionally a part of a recall that impacted all 363,000 Teslas outfitted with FSDb due to how unsafe they’d drive. NHTSA says Tesla utilizing the system would normally blast by means of cease indicators, proceed straight by means of turn-only lanes and drive by means of intersections with yellow visitors indicators with out due warning. It says that this system could enable Teslas to behave “in an unlawful or unpredictable manner,” which may enhance the chance of a crash.
Source: jalopnik.com