
11 new deaths tied to semi-autonomous driving systems
Fox News
NHTSA has added 11 new deaths to a growing list of fatalities tied to the use of semi-automated driving systems that have occurred this year.
The deaths included four crashes involving motorcycles that occurred during the spring and summer: Two in Florida and one each in California and Utah. Safety advocates note that the deaths of motorcyclists in crashes involving Tesla vehicles using automated driver-assist systems such as Autopilot have been increasing.
The new fatal crashes are documented in a database that NHTSA is building in an effort to broadly assess the safety of automated driving systems, which, led by Tesla, have been growing in use. Tesla alone has more than 830,000 vehicles on U.S. roads with the systems. The agency is requiring auto and tech companies to report all crashes involving self-driving vehicles as well as autos with driver assist systems that can take over some driving tasks from people.