U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating a recent crash involving a Tesla electric car Model X to determine whether its automated driving system was in use during the accident.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Wednesday in a statement that it is looking into whether Tesla's Autopilot function, a semi-autonomous technology, was in use at the time of the July 1 crash in Pennsylvania.
It said it was currently collecting information from the state police, the auto maker company and the driver of the Model X.
Tesla said it received an automated alert from the vehicle indicating air bag deployment but didn't have any indications of logs containing details about the vehicle's control state.
"Based on the information we have now, we have no reason to believe that Autopilot had anything to do with this accident," Tesla said in a brief statement.
The Tesla Model X hit a guardrail and turned across several traffic lanes before crashing into the concrete median on the Pennsylvanian Turnpike. The driver and passenger were injured, police said.
A week ago, the regulators just started a formal investigation into a fatal crash that killed a Tesla Model S driver in Williston, Florida. The car failed to apply the brakes and crashed into a tractor-trailer which made a left turn in front of it.
