FILE PHOTO: A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives on autopilot along the 405 highway in Westminster, California, U.S., March 16, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
(Reuters) - U.S. auto safety regulators in April 2021 asked Tesla about incidents involving its vehicles striking parked emergency vehicles while using Autopilot months before it opened a formal probe, according to a letter recently made public.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent Tesla an eight-page letter seeking a meeting and answers "to properly assess these recent incidents and to better understand how Tesla’s planned updates would increase driver attentiveness and reduce the risk of collisions with stationary emergency vehicles."
NHTSA opened a formal preliminary evaluation in August and upgraded it earlier this month to an engineering analysis.
(Reporting by David Shepardson)
