AUTOPILOT

U.S. Auto Safety Agency to Look Into Claims That Tesla Models Spontaneously Accelerate

Over 100 claims have been filed claiming that Teslas can suddenly accelerate on their own.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is looking into over 100 complaints claiming Tesla models suddenly accelerate by themselves, The Associated Press reports. An agency document shows that the NHTS received 127 owner complaints about the issue, involving 110 crashes and 52 injuries. The issue reportedly involves the 2013 through 2019 model years of Tesla's Model 3, Model S and Model X vehicles—or about 500,000 cars. The allegations claim the cars' electronics malfunctioned, and many of the incidents occurred while Tesla drivers were trying to park their cars. A California resident petitioned the agency to open a probe into the issue, and it said it would evaluate the petition to see how to proceed. “I am concerned that these complaints reflect a systemic defect that has not been investigated by NHTSA,” the petition from Brian Sparks to acting NHTSA administrator James Owens read. “I am also concerned that these potential defects represent risk to the safety of Tesla drivers, their passengers, and the public.”

The NHTSA is already probing three December crashes involving Teslas that resulted in three deaths, and the National Transportation Safety Board will hold a hearing in late February over a fatal crash that occurred while a Tesla was operating its Autopilot driver assist system.