Tesla faces upgraded probe into Autopilot

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has upgraded a probe from last August into Tesla's Autopilot, which has been involved in over a dozen crashes with first-responder vehicles stopped for roadway emergencies.

• In a filing published yesterday, the NHTSA said its investigation is now designated as an ‘Engineering Analysis’ – the second and final phase before a possible recall – and covers 830,000 Tesla Models S, 3, X, and Y released since 2014.
• The agency said in its preliminary report that a majority of the 14 crashes involved emergency vehicles that would’ve been visible to the driver for an average of eight seconds prior to the crash.

🤖🚘 Zoom out: The NHTSA has already opened a larger investigation into nearly 50 crashes where Level 2 autonomous driving features, like lane-keeping assistance and adaptive cruise control, are suspected to have played a role.

• While this probe covers all vehicles regardless of make, incidents involving Teslas represent most of the cases under examination, including several with fatalities.

🧠 In the know: Mercedes-Benz is hoping to become the first company to introduce Level 3 autonomous driving in the US sometime this year. Level 3 means the driver can take their hands off the wheel and engage in "certain secondary activities,” like watching movies or (safely) sending texts/emails.