Tesla told the US Safety Regulatory Authority that, last October, it had reported two new deaths in Model 3 cars linked to driver assistance systems, as stated in a Reuters report released on Tuesday.
In June, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) started releasing accident reports from automakers that utilize driver assistance systems such as Tesla Autopilot.
“We at the NHTSA have looked into these faults and are taking appropriate measures,” said the safety regulator on Tuesday. “Multiple sources of data play a role in our operational procedures.”
In June 2021, NHTSA issued an order requiring automakers and technology companies to immediately report any incidents related to ADAS or automated driving systems that have been tested on public roads.
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Yesterday, the Safety Regulatory Authority announced that it will be using data from car manufacturers in its 2021 investigations.
Out of the 18 fatal accidents that have been reported since July 2021, a majority involve Tesla vehicles.
The Safety Regulatory Authority confirmed that accidents are tracked by automakers in different ways, which makes it difficult to compare the companies’ performance. There is no comprehensive metric to track how widely each system is used or how faults are reported, which is frustrating.
NHTSA has opened 38 special investigations into Tesla crashes since 2016, where it is suspected that advanced driver assistance systems such as Autopilot were in use. Out of these accidents, 19 deaths have been reported due to Autopilot failure.
Although Tesla’s Autopilot system cannot completely drive the car for you, it does include features like lane assist and automatic breaking.
NHTSA’s investigation of the defects included 830,000 Tesla cars that use Autopilot, and it considers such investigations to be mandatory before issuing a recall request.
