Fatal accident occurs while driving with Tesla 'Autopilot'... U.S. transportation authorities launch special investigation

*This content was translated by AI.

Recently, a passenger car in the United States, with its driving assistance feature turned on, crashed into a house, resulting in the death of a resident. The U.S. federal transportation authorities immediately launched a special investigation to determine whether there were technical defects in the vehicle.

On the 19th, a Tesla passenger car in Texas, United States, left the road and collided at high speed with a brick-structured house. As a result of the accident, a 70-year-old resident who was near the front door of the house was seriously injured and taken to a hospital, but ultimately lost their life. The accident vehicle was reportedly operating with the 'Autopilot' advanced driving assistance system, which supports lane keeping and adjusts the distance from the vehicle ahead, activated.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the federal transportation authority, has launched a special crash investigation to determine if there are any unusual circumstances from a technical perspective regarding this fatal accident. The NHTSA has been conducting special investigations into major accidents where technical issues are suspected regarding autonomous driving and driving assistance systems. Since 2016, Tesla has received more than 50 special investigations from the relevant authorities.

A dispute over responsibility between Tesla and the driver continues regarding the cause of this accident. The driver of the accident vehicle testified that the Autopilot function was activated at the time of the crash. In contrast, Tesla refuted this, stating that the driver had pressed the accelerator pedal to the floor at the time of the accident, which caused the autonomous driving function to disengage. According to Tesla's own data analysis, the vehicle's speed at the time of the collision was found to be over 110 km/h.

Elon Musk, Tesla's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), also drew a line on personal social media and other platforms, stating that this incident was not caused by a system defect but by the driver's speeding. He argued that the Autopilot system is designed to automatically slow down in residential areas and that the cause of this collision was the driver's pedal misoperation and speeding.

As the U.S. transportation authorities plan to closely examine the safety and potential defects of the Autopilot system through this special investigation, safety controversies surrounding Tesla's driving assistance technology are expected to be brought back into the spotlight depending on the investigation results.

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*This content was translated by AI.