Tesla’s Autopilot Function Blamed In An Accident In South Korea That Killed One Passenger
The South Korean police are investigating a Tesla electric car after its driver informed the police that they had lost control and slammed into a wall killing its passenger and injuring two others in Seoul.
A Model X slammed through the wall and went up in flames in the parking lot of an apartment building in Seoul late on Wednesday, police confirmed. The fire was put out an hour after the incident.
The South Korean forensic department will examine the car and determine the cause of the crash, the police added.
The South Korean Ministry of Transportation will also probe the Autopilot features of the carmaker, the Ministry announced earlier this year.
The automaker has not made any comments yet on the incident, as of yet.
The U.S. National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it will evaluate a petition requesting the agency to officially investigate and recall 500,000 Tesla vehicles on unexpected unintended acceleration claims.
The petition includes all cars from 2012 through 2019 model year for the Tesla Model S, 2016 through 2019 for the Tesla Model X SUV, and 2018 through 2019 Tesla Model 3 sedan, the Department added.
Tesla delivered 11,601 cars in South Korea from January to November, a significant increase from 2,430 sales last year according to the CarIsYou Data Research Institute.