Austin-based automaker Tesla has been dealing with a slew of recalls lately in connection to some features of its cars, and a new report shows German regulators are now scrutinizing one of them.

What You Need To Know

  • Tesla's Autopilot feature is under investigation by German regulators, according to a report by CNBC

  • Autopilot can control steering, speed and braking, and the feature is under investigation by two U.S. federal agencies, a report by the Associated Press says 

  • Regulators are working to determine if Autopilot is safe for German roads, the CNBC report states 

  • Last year, California prosecutors filed charges against the driver of a Tesla who was using Autopilot when he ran a red light, slammed into another car and killed two people in 2019

CNBC, citing German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, reports the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, the German transport authority, is working to determine if Tesla’s Autopilot feature is safe for German roads.

Autopilot can control steering, speed and braking, and according to a Jan. 18, 2022, report by the Associated Press, is under investigation by two U.S. federal agencies.

The CNBC report says that German regulators are in talks with the Netherlands’ vehicle agency, which approves vehicle use across Europe, concerning the automated driving system.

In October 2021, California prosecutors filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against the driver of a Tesla on Autopilot who ran a red light, slammed into another car and killed two people in 2019.

Police said a Model S was moving at a high speed when it left a freeway and ran a red light in the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena and struck a Honda Civic at an intersection on Dec. 29, 2019. Two people who were in the Civic, Gilberto Alcazar Lopez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez died at the scene. Riad and a woman in the Tesla were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

The defendant appears to be the first person to be charged with a felony in the United States for a fatal crash involving a motorist who was using a partially automated driving system.

Autopilot and other driver-assist systems are widely used on roads across the world. An estimated 765,000 Tesla vehicles are equipped with it in the United States alone.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.