Federal traffic safety agency announces probe into Newport Beach Tesla crash that killed 3
A collision that killed three people traveling in a 2022 Tesla Model S on West Coast Highway in Newport Beach May 12 is the subject of an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, several media outlets reported Wednesday.
Reuters confirmed a special investigation had been opened into a fatal Tesla crash that occurred sometime this month in California and resulted in three fatalities.
The incident is one of more than 30 under review by NHTSA since 2016 involving Tesla vehicles that employ advanced driver assistance systems, such as Autopilot, the report continued.
Although Reuters did not reference the Newport Beach collision, ABC News reported the federal agency had confirmed it had sent a team to the city to investigate the incident.
Newport Beach police officers responding to the Tesla crash at 12:45 a.m. on the 3000 block of West Coast Highway May 12 reported the vehicle appeared to have collided with construction equipment on the southbound side of the highway. Three deceased individuals were discovered inside the vehicle.
The coroner’s office identified the occupants as Wayne Walter Swanson Jr, 40, of Newport Beach; 34-year-old Crystal McCallum, of Texas; and Andrew James Chaves, 32, of Arizona.
Three construction workers who’d been at the site when the collision took place were transported to a nearby hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Newport Beach Police Department reported at the time of the incident.
Reuters reported that out of the 35 special crash investigations by the U.S. transportation safety agency into Tesla in the past six years, the Autopilot feature had been ruled out in three cases.
The feature reportedly allows vehicles to steer, accelerate and brake automatically, but Tesla cautions the public on its website that feature, as well as full self-driving features available in some models, require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.
“Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment,” reads a statement on the company’s support page. “While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
Newport Beach police spokeswoman Heather Rangel said on May 12 the collision was being locally reviewed by the department’s Major Accident Investigation Team. Rangel said Wednesday she was not able to comment on any kind of probe by NHTSA into the crash.
Police say the incident took place at 12:45 a.m., after a vehicle hit a curb and collided with construction equipment on West Coast Highway. A 40-year-old Newport Beach man and two out-of-state residents were found dead inside.
In the days following the incident, a roadside shrine began growing along on a portion of West Coast Highway where the incident occurred. A pile of flowers, candles and other tributes have been placed on the sidewalk, where some passersby kneel to observe more closely.
One photograph showed a smiling Chaves, frontman of the Arizona band Katastro, which had performed an April 30 concert at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheater, according to a post on Facebook. Band members reported the news Friday on Instagram.
“We are completely devastated to have to announce the loss of our brother and singer Andy Chaves,” they wrote. “Please respect the privacy of Andy’s family and the members of the band as we all begin to process this. Thank you for the love and support.”
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