US road safety agency will look into fatal crash near Seattle involving Tesla using automated system
DETROIT– US road safety investigators say they will investigate an April crash near Seattle after authorities determined a Tesla was operating on the company’s Full Self-Driving system when it struck and killed a motorcyclist.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday that it is collecting information about the crash from police officers and Tesla.
Washington State Patrol investigators determined that the system was in use after information was downloaded from the event data recorder on the 2022 Tesla Model S involved in the crash, agency spokesman Capt. Deion Glover said Tuesday.
No charges have yet been filed against the driver, but the investigation is ongoing, Glover said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that “Full Self Driving” could be operating without human supervision by the end of this year. He has been promising a fleet of robotaxis for several years. During the company’s earnings conference, he acknowledged that his predictions on this issue “have been overly optimistic in the past.”
Musk is betting much of Tesla’s future on developing self-driving software and a humanoid robot. He has told investors that Tesla should be viewed as a robotics and artificial intelligence company, and he has scheduled an event in October to unveil a new robotaxi.
Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.
Tesla has two partially automated driving systems, “Full Self-Driving,” which can perform many driving tasks, even on city streets, and Autopilot, which can keep a car in its lane and out of the way of objects in front of it. The names are sometimes confused by Tesla owners and the public.
Tesla says that neither system can currently drive autonomously and that human drivers must be ready to take control at any time.
“Full Self-Driving” is being tested on public roads by select Tesla owners.
Twice NHTSA has Tesla has recalled the “Full Self-Driving” because it violated traffic laws. It also forced a recall of Autopilot, saying Tesla’s system for ensuring drivers were paying attention was inadequate. In April, the agency began an investigation into whether the Autopilot recall actually worked.