US regulators have probed 42 Tesla crashes suspected of involving self-driving software – with 23 killed including two fatal collisions last month in California and Virginia

Following two fatal Tesla crashes last month in California and Virginia, federal investigators are investigating at least 42 collisions believed to have involved the car’s driver assistance software.

Tesla crashes under special investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have killed 23 people since 2016, including two pedestrians and two motorcyclists, according to data the agency provided DailyMail.com this week.

The special accident investigations all concern cases in which there was a suspicion that driving systems such as Autopilot or the so-called ‘Full Self-Driving’ were being used.

Autopilot is a feature intended to automatically steer, accelerate and decelerate cars within their lane, while the beta version of FSD can assist with lane changes on highways and respond to traffic control devices.

Tesla, which has disbanded its press department and has not responded to a request for comment, says the systems require active oversight from a human driver who must be ready to take control.

A review of the NHTSA investigations into Tesla crashes reveals several trends.

Eight accidents are listed related to “move over laws,” which require cars on the road to move into the opposite lane or slow down when emergency vehicles come to a stop on the shoulder.

In one such case in February, a Tesla crashed into the back of a stationary fire truck in Walnut Creek, California, killing the driver of the Tesla Model S.

That crash even came after Tesla released a proactive update to Autopilot last year that slows the vehicles when they detect stationary emergency vehicles on the side of the road. It has previously been claimed that the flashing lights of stationary emergency vehicles can confuse the car’s sensors, which are used for self-driving.

Separately, three NHTSA investigations involve what is called “heavy truck underrun,” meaning the Tesla plowed under the trailer of a large oil rig.

Last July, a couple was killed when their Model S was plowed under a parked semi-trailer at a rest stop in Ruskin, Florida.

Authorities said the two dead, a 66-year-old woman who was driving the Tesla, and her passenger, a 67-year-old man, were from Lompoc, California.

The latest accident under investigation, which occurred in Virginia in July, also involved a Tesla running under a heavy truck.

The Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia said in a statement to the AP that on July 19, a Tesla drove under the side of a tractor-trailer exiting a truck stop, killing the Tesla driver.

Police say the truck driver was charged with reckless driving.

Sheriff spokesman Jeffrey Long said the possible role of automated driving systems in the crash is being investigated.

The sheriff’s office is “investigating the crash to determine the cause and any culpability,” Long said in an email. “The NHTSA is also involved and will contribute their expertise to any research conclusion.”

The other crash last month under NHTSA investigation occurred on July 5 in South Lake Tahoe, California.

State police said a Tesla Model 3 and a Subaru Impreza collided head-on in the evening, and the 17-year-old driver of the Subaru died shortly afterwards.

Charlie Chhim, a three-month-old infant who had traveled in the Tesla, died of his injuries a few days later.

“In the blink of an eye, our lives have been forever destroyed as baby Charlie has been declared brain dead from the injuries sustained in this tragic accident,” the baby’s aunt wrote on a GoFundMe family campaign.

Last year, some 43,000 Americans died in car wrecks, and Tesla’s defenders often argue that the automaker is being unfairly singled out for the novelty of its technological advancements.

Tesla publishes security data arguing that its vehicles using Autopilot have far fewer accidents than the US average, based on miles traveled.

NHTSA typically opens more than 100 “special” crash investigations annually into emerging technologies and other potential auto safety issues that have previously helped develop airbag safety regulations, for example.

These are separate from the defect investigations opened by the agency to determine whether a recall is warranted.

Earlier this month, the agency opened such an investigation into 280,000 new Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles following reports of loss of steering and power steering control.

NHTSA opened a preliminary review after receiving 12 complaints from owners of 2023 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

A Model 3 driver reported in May that the car’s steering wheel jammed and slid off the road, causing it to crash into a tree.

A driver in Alpharetta, Georgia reported in June that a two-week-old Tesla Model Y was coming out of a shopping mall when “the steering wheel suddenly went out of control.” It was hard and saw the warning. Went really close to the other side of the traffic and somehow made it across the road in the mall.”

Last week, a grieving widow filed a federal lawsuit against Tesla over an accident that killed her husband in a fiery explosion after his vehicle went off the road and crashed into a tree.

Jyung Woo Hahn, 46, was behind the wheel of a white 2020 Model 3 during a snowstorm in Rockland County, New York, when it exited the Palisades Interstate Parkway around 11 a.m. on March 12 last year.

The lawsuit makes no claim that Autopilot was on at the time of the crash, and an NHTSA official told DailyMail.com that the agency was not investigating the wreckage.