Fatal motorcycle crashes involving Tesla investigated

Two fatal accidents are being investigated by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over concerns the Tesla Autopilot semi-autonomous cruise control system may fail to detect and stop for motorcycles at night, according to US reports.

In both cases currently under investigation by the NHTSA, a Tesla vehicle reportedly struck a motorcycle on the highway from behind at night while operating in Autopilot mode. Both accidents were fatal.

The latest investigation involves both the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y electric cars and follows similar crash probes into Tesla EVs striking parked emergency vehicles and more than 750 complaints from US owners that their car suddenly brakes for no reason.

Since 2016, the NHTSA has reportedly investigated 39 crashes involving vehicles operating with semi-autonomous cruise control. Of those, 30 were Tesla models.

Drawing criticism for autonomous driving experts was Tesla’s decision to axe radar from its Autopilot system, with the car-maker deciding to rely solely on cameras and computer algorithms.

Back in June, NHTSA boss Steven Cliff said the US safety body was ramping up its efforts to understand the risks of systems like Autopilot, but cited a lack of US federal regulation governing their use on public roads.

In a recent 10-month period, NHTSA research suggested that 400 crashes in the US were reportedly blamed by semi-autonomous driving aids, with 273 of those involving Tesla cars.

Tesla has not publicly commented on the recent crash probe but, at its annual shareholders meeting last week, company boss Elon Musk announced that the long-awaited ‘Full Self-Driving’ software for Autopilot would be available by the end of this year for owners who request it.

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