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Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system faces probe after pedestrian death
Tesla is facing scrutiny by federal regulators after a report that the electric car maker’s “Full Self-Driving” system may be linked to a fatal accident.
The National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday after the company reported four crashes, including one that killed a pedestrian, after Tesla vehicles entered areas of low visibility including sun glare, fog and airborne dust.
In addition to the pedestrian’s death, another crash involved an injury, the agency said.
Investigators will look into the ability of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology to “detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions, and if so, the contributing circumstances for these crashes,” NHTSA said..
The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
A message was left early Friday seeking comment from Tesla, which has repeatedly said the system cannot drive itself and human drivers must be ready to intervene at all times.
The agency also said it would look into whether any other similar crashes involving “Full Self-Driving” have happened in low visibility conditions, and it will seek information from the company on whether any updates affected the system’s performance in those conditions.
“In particular, his review will assess the timing, purpose and capabilities of any such updates, as well as Telsa’s assessment of their safety impact,” the documents said.
Last week Tesla held an event at a Hollywood studio to unveil a fully autonomous robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals. CEO Elon Musk said the company plans to have fully autonomous vehicles running without human drivers next year, and robotaxis available in 2026.
“We’ll move from supervised Full Self-Driving to unsupervised Full Self-Driving, where you can fall asleep and wake up at your destination,” Musk said during the October 11 event. “It’s going to be a glorious future.”
The company also expects to make the Full Self-Driving technology available on its popular Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in Texas and California next year.
The unveiling of the Cybercab comes as Musk tries to persuade investors that his company is more about artificial intelligence and robotics as it struggles to sell its core products, an aging lineup of electric vehicles.
The splashy launch comes as Tesla struggles to drive sales and as Musk seeks to focus investor attention on the company’s robotics technology, including a humanoid robot dubbed Optimus.
Tesla said earlier this month that it had deliver nearly 463,000 vehicles in the third quarter, up slightly from about 435,000 cars in the year-ago period.
Although Tesla remains the biggest U.S. manufacturer of electric vehicles, but faces mounting competition in its key markets around the globe, including Europe and China.
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Over 6 million pills seized, nearly 50 suspects arrested in major drug smuggling bust in Europe
European police have swooped on a continent-wide gang that smuggled millions of prescription medication pills to countries like Finland and Norway, the EU’s judicial agency said on Friday.
Forty-seven suspects were arrested and more than 6 million pills seized in the operation conducted by Estonian, Finnish, Romanian and Serbian police, Eurojust said in a news release.
“The criminal group, which operated throughout Europe, bought pills from other criminal networks in Serbia,” the Hague-based law agency said in a statement.
“The pills, used to treat anxiety, seizures and insomnia, were then hidden in tires, in cars, which were transported on lorries, and in clothing, to be taken to Romania,” it said.
They were then smuggled to Estonia and other countries including Finland and Norway, where gang members “acted as distributors and sold the pills on the streets.”
The pills seized had an estimated street value of $13.6 million, Eurojust said.
💊 International smuggling route for prescription pills blocked!
🚨 Eurojust & @Europol supported 🇷🇴 🇪🇪 🇫🇮 & 🇷🇸 authorities in a large-scale operation that led to 47 arrests and the seizure of over 6 million pills.
Press release 👉 https://t.co/g2MjY17fYT pic.twitter.com/2HAybvQN1I
— Eurojust (@Eurojust) October 18, 2024
The arrests were made under a large police operation Thursday coordinated by Eurojust and Europol. Some 61 addresses were searched simultaneously in Romania, Serbia and Finland.
Police also confiscated guns, mobile phones and luxury cars in the operation, Eurojust said.
A Europol report on criminal networks released in April said the majority of Europe’s most dangerous gangs now focused on drug smuggling, mainly dealing in cocaine, cannabis, heroin and synthetic drugs. Europol said that cartels, mafias and gangs throughout Europe have been using fruit companies, hotels and other legal businesses as fronts to carry out their operations.
Last month, Europol and Eurojust said they successfully dismantled an encrypted communication platform that was established to facilitate criminal activity. The platform, known as Ghost, was used for “large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering, instances of extreme violence and other forms of serious and organized crime,” Europol said.
In July, Spanish police announced a Europol-backed takedown of a major network transporting Latin American cocaine into Europe by boat in an international operation involving 50 arrests across eight countries. Europol released a video showing authorities opening bricks of cocaine on one of the ships as well as officers raiding properties, making arrests, and finding drugs, cash and firearms.
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