US security agencies will investigate the fatal crash of Tesla in Florida

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have announced the dispatch of two teams to investigate a fatal accident in Florida on Friday involving a Tesla car Inc. and a semi-trailer.

The two agencies are investigating several accidents involving the use of Tesla's driver assistance system, including a fatal accident in California in March 2018. The NHTSA, the automotive safety enforcement authority, may require a recall if it feels that a defect presents an unreasonable risk, while the NTSB makes safety recommendations.

A spokesman for the US Department of Transportation's NHTSA spokesman said Friday that "NHTSA's collision investigation division has tasked a special collision investigation team to investigate the crash." accident ", while the NTSB sent a team of three" to conduct a security investigation ". .

A report on the Friday accident issued by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department did not say if the autopilot was activated at the time of the accident that killed the owner of Model 3, Tesla, 50 years old .

According to the report, the Tesla struck a semi-trailer truck and the roof was cut when passing under the trailer and stopped three-tenths of a mile south of the collision. The driver was declared dead on the scene.

Tesla declined to comment on Friday.

Some Tesla drivers claim that they are able to avoid putting their hands on the wheel for extended periods when they use the autopilot, while Tesla advises them to keep their hands on the steering wheel and to pay attention at all times when they use the autopilot.

NHTSA is also investigating the crash of a seemingly autopilot Tesla vehicle that hit a fire truck in Culver City, California, in January 2018, on a May 2018 crash in Utah pilot mode. automatic and accident occurred in Florida in May 2018 teenagers and injured another, but was not in autopilot mode.

The NTSB is investigating three pre-Tesla incidents examined by NHTSA, as well as a Tesla battery fire in August 2017 in California, in which an owner brought the vehicle into his garage.

Friday's accident is similar to Tesla's first fatal accident related to the use of the autopilot.

In May 2016, a Tesla Model S driver was killed near Williston, Florida, under autopilot, when he crashed into a tractor-trailer that also cut off the roof of the vehicle. .

The incident has raised questions about the safety of systems that can perform driving tasks over long periods of time without human intervention, or none, but that can not completely replace drivers.

The NTSB said in September 2017 that Tesla did not have adequate security measures allowing the driver "to use the system outside the environment for which it was designed and the system left far too much room maneuvering the driver to divert his attention ".

In January 2017, NHTSA stated that its review revealed no evidence of defects during the fatal autopilot accident in 2016 that would require a recall.