In January Tesla (TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk promised that the company's vehicles would be self-driving by the end of the year.
"I would be shocked if we do not achieve full-self-driving safer than a human this year. I would be shocked," Musk said during Tesla's fourth-quarter-earnings call.
He emphasized: "Being safer than a human is a low standard, not a high standard. People are often distracted, tired, texting. … It’s remarkable that we don’t have more accidents."
In other words, owner sof Tesla vehicles would by year's end have a feature enabling their cars to drive themselves in any conditions.
At the risk of damping the enthusiasm of Tesla fans, the chances that their champion Musk's schedule will not be met again are good.
That's because the investigations of regulators, particularly the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, concerning accidents involving Tesla cars and the autopilot and full-self-driving assistance system are increasing.
Another Crash Involving a Tesla Car
NHTSA is launching a special crash investigation into a July 6 incident that killed two people along Interstate 75 in Florida, a person familiar with the matter told TheStreet.
A 2015 Tesla Model S left Interstate 75 and entered a rest-stop area, where it ran into the back of a parked tractor-trailer.
Two occupants, a 66-year-old female and 67-year-old male from Lompoc, Calif., were killed in the collision, according to a statement from the Florida Highway Patrol.
"For unknown reasons, the Tesla traveled into a parking lot toward a tractor-trailer. The Tesla struck the rear of the tractor-trailer, where it came to a final rest," the Florida Highway Patrol said.
"Vehicle 2 (a 2020 Freightliner Tractor Trailer) was parked in the southbound rest area parking lot," the Florida Highway Patrol explained. "Vehicle 1 (2015 Tesla ) was traveling south on I-75 before it exited for the rest area."
"For unknown reason(s) Vehicle 1 travelled into the parking lot toward Vehicle 2. Vehicle 1 struck the rear of Vehicle 2's trailer, where it came to final rest. Both occupants were pronounced deceased on scene."
"It is not known at this point if the auto pilot feature was in use at the time of the crash," Lieutenant P.V. Riordan of the Florida Highway Patrol told TheStreet in an emailed statement.
NHTSA also does not say whether any of Tesla's driver-assistance systems, autopilot and FSD, were active at the time of the accident.
Tesla, which has been without a communications department since last year, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This accident is a blow for the carmaker, which is surrounded on all sides by competitors determined to snatch market share from it. The accident also adds to a long list of investigations currently involving Tesla vehicles.
Tesla Is Cooperating With NHTSA
Indeed, NHTSA is investigating 37 crashes involving automated driving systems since 2016. Of those, 30 involved Teslas, including 11 fatal crashes that have killed a total of 15 people.
The agency also said in documents that it's investigating a fatal pedestrian crash in California involving a Tesla Model 3 that happened this month.
It also sent a team to probe a Cruise automated vehicle crash in California that caused a minor injury in June.
The newly confirmed NHTSA administrator, Steven Cliff, recently told The Associated Press that the agency is intensifying efforts to understand the risks posed by automated vehicle technology so it can decide what regulations may be necessary to protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians.
He also says automated systems such as automatic emergency braking have huge potential to save lives.
Cliff added that Tesla has been cooperative with NHTSA.
“I think we work well with them,” the head of the watchdog agency told AP, “and when we have identified that there are risks, they’ve taken action, and that’s appropriate.”
In June, the federal agency released data from automakers and tech companies showing nearly 400 crashes over a 10-month period involving vehicles with partly automated driver-assist systems, including 273 with Teslas.
