WASHINGTON — The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration stated on Thursday it has opened two new particular investigations into crashes involving Tesla Inc. automobiles the place superior driver help methods are suspected to have been in use.

The brand new crashes underneath investigation embrace an eight-vehicle crash on Nov. 24 on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco during which the driving force of a 2021 Tesla Mannequin S reported the Full-Self Driving function had malfunctioned, in response to a police report. The opposite latest crash entails a 2020 Mannequin 3 in Ohio the place a minor damage was reported.

Within the Bay Bridge incident that led to 2 minor accidents, police stated they had been unable to find out if its “Full-Self Driving” system was activated.

Since 2016, NHTSA has opened 41 particular crash investigations involving Tesla automobiles and the place superior driver help methods akin to Autopilot had been suspected of getting used, together with eight investigations in 2022. A complete of 19 crash deaths have been reported in these Tesla-related investigations.

NHTSA usually opens greater than 100 particular crash investigations yearly into rising applied sciences and different potential auto issues of safety which have, for example, beforehand helped to develop security guidelines on air luggage.

Tesla didn’t reply to a request for remark.

CEO Elon Musk has touted Tesla “Full Self-Driving” software program as a possible money cow for the world’s largest electrical carmaker. However Tesla’s superior driver help methods — and Musk’s claims about them — face rising authorized, regulatory and public scrutiny.

Tesla sells the $15,000 FSD software program as an add-on which permits its automobiles to alter lanes and park autonomously. That enhances its normal “Autopilot” function, which permits automobiles to steer, speed up and brake inside their lanes with out driver intervention.

In June, NHTSA upgraded its defect probe into 830,000 Tesla automobiles with Autopilot and involving crashes with parked emergency automobiles, a required step earlier than it may search a doable recall.