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Sep 3, 2021 - Economy & Business

U.S. auto regulator probes Tesla crash that killed man changing tire

Shawna Chen
Photo of a row of Tesla cars parked in front of a building with the Tesla brand

A Tesla dealership. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A U.S. government road safety regulator is investigating yet another fatality involving a Tesla and its use of partially automated driving systems, AP reported Friday.

Why it matters: Critics, including the National Transportation Safety Board, have said Tesla needs to implement a stronger system to ensure drivers are paying attention to the road.

  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) dispatched a special crash investigation team to a July 26 crash, which took place on the Long Island Expressway in New York.
    • A Tesla Model Y SUV killed a man as he was changing a flat tire on his vehicle.
  • Of the 10 fatal crashes that led NHTSA to send a special investigation team, nine involved Teslas, per AP.
  • The sole incident without a Tesla occurred in March 2018 when an autonomous Uber test vehicle ran over a pedestrian in Tempe Arizona.

The big picture: The new addition comes three weeks after NHTSA launched a formal probe into Tesla’s partially automated driving systems, especially in regard to their collisions with parked emergency vehicles, per AP.

  • Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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