The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating a Los Angeles crash involving a Tesla Model S that killed two people, CNET reports.
NBC Los Angeles reports that the Model S exited off the westbound Gardena Freeway and ran a red light, striking a Honda Civic near Artesia Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. The man and woman inside the Honda were pronounced dead at the scene while the Tesla’s driver and passenger were taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Another One: NTSB Says Autopilot Was Engaged At 2018 Tesla Model S Crash In California
Late Tuesday, the NHTSA confirmed that it was dispatching a special crash investigation team to look at the incident. A spokesman from the agency declined to say whether the Tesla’s Autopilot driver-assist system was engaged at the time of the crash.
Two weeks ago, it was announced that the NHTSA was investigating the December 7, 2019 crash of a 2018 Tesla Model 3 in Norwalk, Connecticut. In that incident, the Model 3 slammed into the rear of a police car on Interstate 95 as authorities were responding to a disabled vehicle in the left-center lane. The driver of the Tesla told authorities that Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash and that he was checking on his dog in the back seat prior to the collision.
Roughly a dozen crashes involving Tesla’s Autopilot system have been investigated by the NHTSA.