US road safety agency will look into fatal crash near Seattle involving Tesla using automated system

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. road safety investigators say they will look into an April crash near Seattle after authorities determined that a Tesla was operating on the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system when it hit and killed a motorcyclist.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday that it is gathering information on the crash from law enforcement officers and Tesla.

Investigators from the Washington State Patrol determined that the system was in use after downloading information from the event-data recorder on the 2022 Tesla Model S involved in the crash, agency spokesman Capt. Deion Glover said Tuesday.

No charges have been filed against the driver but the investigation is still under way, Glover said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that “Full Self Driving” should be able to run without human supervision by the end of this year. He has been promising a fleet of robotaxis for several years. During the company’s earnings conference call, he acknowledged that his predictions on the issue “have been overly optimistic in the past.”

Musk is staking much of Tesla’s future on development of self-driving software and a humanoid robot. He has told investors that Tesla should be seen as a robotics and artificial intelligence company, and he has scheduled an event in October to reveal a new robotaxi.

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Tesla did not return messages seeking comment.

Tesla has two partially automated driving systems, “Full Self-Driving,” which can take on many driving tasks even on city streets, and Autopilot, which can keep a car in its lane and away from objects in front of it. Sometimes the names are confused by Tesla owners and the public.

Tesla says at present neither system can drive itself and that human drivers must be ready to take control at any time.

“Full Self-Driving” is being tested on public roads by selected Tesla owners.

Twice NHTSA has made Tesla recall “Full Self-Driving” because it disobeyed traffic laws. It also forced a recall of Autopilot, alleging that Tesla’s system for making sure drivers pay attention was inadequate. In April, the agency began investigating whether the Autopilot recall actually worked.