Ten people were killed in crashes involving vehicles using automated driving systems between May and September this year, according to new data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A damning revelation for the company was that all of the deaths were related to their cars. It is not certain whether automated driving features themselves or the human driver was to blame in each case.
According to the AP, four of those crashes involved motorcycles, which is a symptom of a broader increase in fatal motorcyclist crashes.
The executive director of the Center for Auto Safety told the AP that there was a clear pattern of bad behavior on the part of the company. We need to see more deaths of motorcyclists.
The federal regulator and other agencies have monitored the safety of the car company for a long time, and how early it became apparent that the technology may not be safe in many environments is not unwarranted.
The NHTSA opened its investigation into the technology last year after vehicles with the technology repeatedly crashed into parked emergency vehicles that were flashing their lights.
It widened the scope of its investigation in order to get closer to a possible recall of epic proportions.
The National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency, recommended in 2020 that the NHTSA andTesla should limit the use of autopilot to areas where it could safely function and that the automaker should implement better systems to ensure drivers aren't distracted.
Nothing has come of those recommendations.
Many other automakers don't send in real-time crash reports, although almost all of them have been instructed to do so by the NHTSA.
Even with that in mind, that plausible aspect of deniability is overshadowed by other damning statistics.
"You're seeing innocent people who had no choice in the matter being killed or injured, that's what I'm seeing."
A video shows a broken down semi truck.
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