The United States has opened an investigation into Tesla‘s Autopilot system, citing incidents of collisions with parked emergency vehicles, according to documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The investigation will look into an estimated 765,000 Tesla Model Y, X, S, and 3 vehicles from 2014-2021 model years. The NHTSA said the inquiry commenced after 11 crashes occurred, which resulted in one death and 17 injuries.
“Most incidents took place after dark and the crash scenes encountered included scene control measures such as first responder vehicle lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, and road cones,” the agency said in the document. “The involved subject vehicles were all confirmed to have been engaged in either Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control during the approach to the crashes.”
Tesla’s Autopilot is the driving assistance system that maintains vehicle speeds and lane alignment when it is activated. Still, drivers are responsible for identifying other obstacles and vehicles on the road.
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Some critics have argued that the function is improperly marketed as a system that is capable of fully automatic driving when, in reality, the car still requires focused attention from the driver.
“NHTSA reminds the public that no commercially available motor vehicles today are capable of driving themselves. Every available vehicle requires a human driver to be in control at all times,” the administration added in its Monday documents.
The NHTSA has opened at least 30 special crash investigations involving Tesla vehicles that it suspects were linked to Autopilot. The rate of inquiries has steadily increased in recent years.
The most recent accident in the NHTSA’s investigation happened on July 10 in San Diego, when a vehicle crashed into a firetruck on state Route 56. The administration wrote that the first of the investigated crashes happened in early 2018, which was also a collision involving an emergency vehicle.
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The Washington Examiner contacted Tesla for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
