By Ryan Beene | Bloomberg
US auto safety regulators are investigating a 2021 Tesla Model Y crash that killed a motorcyclist in California earlier this month, the latest in a broader examination of collisions suspected to involve the use of advanced driver-assistance systems.
The incident is the 47th since 2016 to be examined in the review by crash investigators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 38 of which involve a Tesla Inc. vehicle, the agency said Monday. A total of 18 fatalities have been linked to the crashes. Local media reported that the Tesla crash that killed a motorcyclist occurred July 7 in Riverside. Results from early in the investigation showed that a Tesla Model Y was headed east in the carpool lane behind a Yamaha V-Star when they collided. The rider was thrown from his motorcycle, said Officer Keith Ballantyne, a CHP spokesman.
NHTSA is toughening scrutiny of collisions involving the use of new technologies that can automate parts of the driving task, such as keeping a vehicle centered in a lane and navigate turns in certain conditions. The agency earlier this month said it was reviewing a Tesla crash in Florida that killed two.
In June, NHTSA escalated a probe into whether Tesla’s suite of automated driver aids is defective, saying at the time that it has looked at nearly 200 crashes of Tesla vehicles operating some version of the company’s Autopilot technology.
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