Following the release of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s latest automated vehicle fatality report, it has been revealed that Tesla vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance technologies were linked to 10 more deaths in America.
The accidents took place between mid-May and September, according to the document, which was first reported on by ABC News. The regulator reported 11 deaths but it was later discovered that one of them involved a Tesla that was not equipped with an ADAS system.
The data does not make clear whether the driver or the ADAS system was at fault. We have reached out to Tesla for more information, but the company, which does not operate a press relations department, has not yet responded.
More: Motorcycle Advocates Warn Of Tesla Autopilot After Latest Fatal Crash With Biker
We do know, however, that four of the accidents involved motorcycles, with two taking place in Florida, one in Utah, and another in California. Motorcycle safety advocates have taken note of these accidents and, at least one (in Palm Beach County, Florida) took place when the Tesla in question had Autopilot activated, per crash data released by the company.
“Motorcyclists have long been told by crash-causing inattentive drivers, ‘Sorry, I didn’t see you.’ Now we are hearing, ‘Sorry, my car didn’t see you.’ This is unacceptable,” president and chief executive of the American Motorcyclist Association Rob Dingman said.
It’s not just Motorcycle safety advocates who have strong words for Tesla and American regulators, though. Speaking to ABC News, Michael Brooks, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, said he was baffled by NTHSA’s seeming inaction towards Tesla.
“I think there’s a pretty clear pattern of bad behavior on the part of Tesla when it comes to obeying the edicts of the (federal) safety act, and NHTSA is just sitting there,” he said. “How many more deaths do we need to see of motorcyclists?”
Brooks added that it’s not just Tesla drivers who are at risk, and claimed that its systems are killing and injuring other road users who had no choice in the matter.
According to NHTSA, Tesla’s crash data may seem inflated because its crash data can be accessed faster than similar systems from other automakers. The American EV manufacturer, however, was found to have been involved in hundreds more accidents relating to its Level 2 autonomous systems than any other automaker in the country, per NHTSA data.
