Fatal Tesla collision with fire truck under federal investigation

Federal vehicle safety regulators launched a new, special crash investigation into a fatal collision involving a Tesla Model S sedan and a fire truck in Walnut Creek, California, last month, CNBC has confirmed.

The driver of the Tesla died, a passenger was critically injured and four firefighters who were inside the fire truck were taken to the hospital after the crash, according to records obtained by CNBC from the California Highway Patrol and Contra Costa County Fire Department.

The Associated Press first reported on the special investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to fire department records following the Feb. 18 incident, the fire truck was parked in the middle of a freeway to protect other first responders who were towing a disabled vehicle from the area when the Tesla vehicle crashed into it.

NHTSA and CHP have opened separate investigations into the crash.

The CHP wrote in a statement after the fatal incident, “It is unclear if drug or alcohol influence is a factor in this accident. It was not possible to determine at the scene if the Tesla was operating with driver assistance or automation activated at the time of the crash.”

Both the CHP and NHTSA want to know whether Tesla’s driver assistance systems, which are marketed as Autopilot and Full Self-Driving options in the US, caused the crash.

All new Tesla cars in the US come with a standard driver assistance package called Autopilot. Customers who pay Tesla a monthly subscription fee of $199 or $15,000 up front can also get more driver assistance features as part of a premium package called FSD, which stands for Full Self-Driving. Tesla also allows FSD customers to sign up for FSD Beta, which is a way to test new features that haven’t been fully debugged on public roads.

Despite their brand names, Tesla is not making a driverless vehicle or system. The company warns drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, and be ready to take over steering or braking at any time.

The crash investigation is part of a comprehensive NHTSA investigation into Tesla’s driver assistance systems, and how they work around parked emergency vehicles.

According to filings on the agency’s website, NHTSA opened a “preliminary evaluation” of Tesla’s Autopilot systems on August 13, 2021. “The opening of the investigation was motivated by an accumulation of accidents in which Tesla vehicles, operating with Autopilot, silently collided with — first responder vehicles en route or roadsides that tend to pre-existing collision sites, it says.

According to the NHTSA report, at least 14 Teslas have crashed into emergency vehicles while using the Autopilot system.

NHTSA expanded the probe to an “engineering analysis” in the spring of 2022, to determine whether Tesla’s systems could “exacerbate human factors or behavioral safety risks by undermining the effectiveness of driver supervision.”

NHTSA is trying to determine whether Tesla’s Autopilot, FSD and other driver assistance features cause drivers to become so distracted from the road that they would drive safer without them.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. NHTSA does not comment on open investigations.