NHTSA Adds Yet Another Fatal Accident To The List Of Tesla Crashes It Is Investigating

It appears the NHTSA is now probing yet another (13th, by our count) Tesla crash as part of its ongoing investigation into Autopilot. 

The crash took place in July of last year and resulted in a 52 year old man who was changing a tire on the side of the Long Island Expressway being killed by a Tesla Model Y SUV. The Tesla in question “might have been using an advanced driver assistance system”, according to Reuters. 

The NHTSA said it was aware of the “July 26 incident involving a Tesla vehicle on the Long Island Expressway in New York, and has launched a Special Crash Investigation team to investigate the crash.”

Recall, days ago we noted that the regulatory agency, which announced a broad and formal investigation into the company’s Autopilot feature just days ago, had added a 12th crash into the scope of its investigation, CNBC reported last week.

The NHTSA is demanding that Tesla provide an “exhaustive” amount of data about Autopilot before October 22. Phil Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon, characterized the regulator’s request for data as “really sweeping”. 

He continued: “This is an incredibly detailed request for huge amounts of data. But it is exactly the type of information that would be needed to dig in to whether Tesla vehicles are acceptably safe.”

The agency was likely prompted by a crash in Orlando days ago involving a Tesla that “narrowly” missed hitting a State Trooper. The Tesla driver had the Autopilot engaged during the accident, according to police.

The NHTSA recently said it had opened a formal investigation into the company’s Autopilot feature. It said it is opening a probe into Tesla’s Model X, S, and 3 for model years 2014-2021. The broad range of models and model years means that this could be the broad investigation that Tesla skeptics have been requesting for years. 

Even Tesla founder Elon Musk doubts Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” Beta version 9.2, calling it “actually not great” in a casual conversation on Twitter.

Opinions on some online forums as to whether or not Musk’s feet will finally be held to the fire differ. But, as we said days ago, we can’t help but think the unfortunate reality is that Musk will drag on the process and somehow wind up getting away with it, as he does, again…