U.S. Auto Agency: Hope to end Tesla's safety investigation as soon as possible

A few days ago, according to Sina Technology, the head of the top car safety regulator in the United States said on Thursday that he hoped the agency would end the investigation of the accident involving Tesla's autopilot system as soon as possible.

Steven Cliff, deputy director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has been nominated as its director. Asked about the agency's investigation into Tesla, he said: "We want to close these investigations as soon as possible." But he didn't provide a precise timeline.

NHTSA will work closely with automakers to conduct the investigation. Cliff added: "We are collecting data and we will decide what we will do next. ”

It is understood that in August this year, NHTSA launched a formal safety investigation into Tesla's Autopilot system installed on 765,000 cars in the United States. The survey is still in the preliminary evaluation phase, with NHTSA planning to complete the assessment within 120 days before deciding whether to upgrade to engineering analysis or end there.

So far, NHTSA has confirmed 12 accidents involving Tesla vehicles and emergency vehicles using advanced assistance systems.

In addition, NHTSA separately evaluated 30 Tesla accidents since 2016 that resulted in a total of 10 deaths, and advanced driver assistance systems may have been turned on at the time of the accident.

NHTSA said last week that it was discussing with Tesla the company's software update, which would allow users to play games on the dashboard's touchscreen, and the decision not to replace some cameras through a recall.

Under pressure from NHTSA, Tesla agreed in February to recall 135,000 cars with touchscreens that could fail and increase the risk of collision. NHTSA warns that the problem can lead to image loss in the rearview mirrors or backup cameras, as well as failure of the external turn signal and windshield first frost system.