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#Feds probing nearly two dozen crashes involving Tesla cars

“#Feds probing nearly two dozen crashes involving Tesla cars”

The feds are actively investigating nearly two dozen crashes involving Tesla cars — three of which have occurred in the last month.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it’s running 23 ongoing probes of Tesla crashes, including this month’s pair of collisions in Michigan and a February crash that occurred near Houston.

The safety agency has also completed four other investigations and published the results, bringing the total number of Tesla probes to 27.

The bulk of those cases appear to involve Tesla’s controversial Autopilot feature, which helps drivers steer, accelerate and brake automatically in their lane.

An Oregon man crashed a Tesla while going about 100 mph on Nov. 17, 2020.

In July, NHTSA said its Special Crash Investigations team had examined 19 crashes involving Tesla vehicles in which investigators believed “some form of advanced driver assistance system was engaged at the time of the incident.”

A damaged Telsa seen after ramming a cop car in Michigan on March 17, 2021.

The large number of active NHTSA probes is the latest sign of regulators’ concern about the safety of Tesla’s vehicles as the Elon Musk-led company expands its “Full Self-Driving” feature, which allows its cars to park themselves and stop at red lights.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, but the Silicon Valley automaker has warned drivers that the advanced features “require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

This image shows the he scene of a traffic collision involving a Tesla Model S sedan with a Fire Department mechanic truck in Utah on May 11, 2018.

The National Transportation Safety Board has previously blasted Tesla over its lack of safeguards for Autopilot, which has been linked to at least three fatal crashes since 2016.

The Tesla driver who rammed into a Michigan state trooper’s patrol car early Wednesday morning was using the Autopilot feature. But the system was reportedly not turned on when another Tesla vehicle drove underneath a semitruck in a grisly crash in Detroit last week.

Emergency personnel investigating the scene where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, California on March 23, 2018. — Emergency personnel investigating the scene where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, California, on March 23, 2018.

Authorities have not yet determined whether Autopilot was involved in the Feb. 27 crash north of Houston that left five cops injured, according to reports.

Tesla shares climbed about 0.9 percent in premarket trading Friday to $659.29 as of 8:20 a.m.

Officials at scene of a crash after a Tesla car went on autopilot and hit a police vehicle in Michigan. — Officials at scene of a crash after a Tesla car went on autopilot and hit a police vehicle in Michigan on March 17, 2021.

With Post wires

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