US opens safety probe into Tesla that struck student in North Carolina
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The NHTSA is reviewing whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure drivers are paying attention.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON - The American safety authorities on Friday said they are investigating whether an advanced driver assistance system was in use when a Tesla struck a 17-year-old student who had exited a school bus in Halifax County, North Carolina.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it would open a special crash investigation into the incident, where the driver of a 2022 Tesla Model Y on March 15 reportedly failed to stop for a school bus displaying warning lights and struck the student.
The driver, 51, was charged in the incident, according to local media quoting North Carolina State Police.
The NHTSA said Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system was suspected of being in use in the North Carolina crash. State police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since 2016, the NHTSA has opened 40 Tesla special crash investigations into incidents where advanced driver assistance systems such as Autopilot were suspected of being used, with 20 crash deaths reported.
The agency has ruled out Tesla Autopilot use in three other special crash investigations.
Autopilot enables cars to steer, accelerate and brake within their lanes without driver intervention, but Tesla says the feature requires “active driver supervision and does not make the vehicle autonomous”.
In March, the NHTSA opened an investigation into a February fatal crash of a 2014 Tesla Model S involving a fire truck in Contra Costa County, California.
The local fire department said a Tesla struck one of its fire trucks, and the Tesla driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
In June, the NHTSA upgraded to an engineering analysis its defect probe into 830,000 Tesla vehicles with Autopilot and involving crashes with parked emergency vehicles, including fire trucks. That step was necessary before the agency could demand a recall.
The NHTSA is reviewing whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure drivers are paying attention.
Previously, the agency said evidence suggested drivers in most crashes under review had complied with Tesla’s alert strategy that seeks to compel driver attention, raising questions about its effectiveness.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. REUTERS
