Investigators Probing July Death of Man Hit by Tesla in New York

(Bloomberg) -- Federal investigators probing Tesla Inc.’s driver assist system have added a July 26 fatality in New York to the list of accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement Friday that a special investigative team is examining the death of a man killed on the Long Island Expressway in New York. 

The 52-year-old was struck by a Tesla Model Y SUV while he was changing a flat tire on his vehicle, which had been parked on the left shoulder of the expressway, according to the Associated Press, which previously reported NHTSA’s interest in the case.

Tesla representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Autopilot is Tesla’s driver-assistance system that maintains vehicles’ speed and keeps them centered in lanes when engaged, though the driver is supposed to supervise at all times. The company has been criticized for years for naming the system in a potentially misleading way. 

The U.S. opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot system after almost a dozen collisions at crash scenes involving first-responder vehicles, stepping up its scrutiny of a system the carmaker has charged thousands of dollars for over the last half decade.

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