Death of woman who was struck by Tesla driver, 39, who was ‘high on drugs and driving on Autopilot’ when the car went airborne and hit her is probed by US regulators
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating a California Tesla crash where the electric car went airborne and killed a woman
- The NHTSA did not identify the people involved in the crash, but it is believed to be Frank Shoaf’s crash, who was high from huffing and killed Cassandra May, 40
- He was driving on Othello Avenue around 8am in June when he reportedly ran a red light, hit a dip and went airborne, and struck May before crashing into a bush
- Shoaf reportedly asked officers for ‘another hit’ while they were ‘massaging the victim’s heart’
- The NHTSA had previously opened 35 special crash investigations involving Tesla that were suspected of using Autopilot
US regulators are investigating the death of a woman who was struck by a Tesla driver, 39, who was reportedly high on drugs and driving on Autopilot when the car went airborne and hit her.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cited the California incident in an emailed update on Thursday but did not identify the specific crash.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on June 7 that a Tesla went airborne and struck and killed a woman. NBC 7 San Diego said a 39-year-old man was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs in the incident.
The case is believed to have involved Frank Shoaf, who was high from huffing – inhaling household items – while driving on Othello Avenue around 8.30am. He admitted to police that he had run the red light, hit a dip, which caused him to go airborne two feet, before he hit Cassandra May, 40.
The NHTSA would not confirm the specific crash to DailyMail.com on Friday, as it does not ‘comment on open investigations.’
After Shoaf struck her, her body reportedly was lunched seven to eight feet in the air before landing 25 feet away. Her was transported to the hospital, where she later died.
As his car continued forward, it crashed into a no parking sign and landed in a bush outside of a local KFC with one of its tires missing.
US regulators are investigating the death of a woman who was struck by a Tesla driver, 39, who was reportedly high on drugs and driving on Autopilot when the car went airborne and hit her (pictured: A California Tesla crash, where the vehicle went airborne)
Although the NHTSA did not name the specific crash, it is believed to have involved Frank Shoaf, (picture) who struck and killed Cassandra May, 40, in June after he was high from huffing – inhaling household items
He reportedly even asked for ‘another hit’ on the scene, while paramedics were ‘massaging the victim’s heart,’ prosecutors said in court in June. He also failed his drug test in court a few days later and admitted to huffing.
Shoaf also reportedly worked as Uber driver and has no prior criminal history.
The NHTSA had previously opened 35 special crash investigations involving Tesla vehicles in which advanced driver assistance systems like Autopilot were suspected of being used since 2016.
The NHTSA typically opens more than 100 special crash investigations annually into emerging technologies and other potential auto safety issues that have, for instance, previously helped to develop safety rules on air bags.
A total of 15 crash deaths have been reported in those Tesla investigations, including the most recent incident.
Elon Musk’s company has been in a series of probes from regulators due to its Autopilot feature (pictured: Musk at the 2022 Met Gala)
Tesla, which has disbanded its press office, did not respond to a request for comment.
Separately, the NHTSA told Reuters it was aware of ‘and in discussions with Tesla’ regarding a Florida crash on Wednesday that killed a 66-year-old Tesla driver and a 67-year-old passenger.
A 2015 Tesla rear-ended a tractor-trailer in the Gainesville area at a rest area off Interstate 75, the Florida Highway Patrol said in a police report. Both people in the Tesla were pronounced dead at the scene.
In June, the NHTSA upgraded its defect probe into 830,000 Tesla (TSLA.O) vehicles with Autopilot, a required step before it could seek a recall.
The NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation to assess the performance of the system in 765,000 vehicles after about a dozen crashes in which Tesla vehicles struck stopped emergency vehicles – and said last month it had identified six additional crashes.
The NHTSA Administrator Steven Cliff told Reuters on Wednesday he wanted to complete the Tesla Autopilot investigation ‘as quickly as we possibly can, but I also want to get it right. There’s a lot of information that we need to comb through.’
Over the last ten moths, 273 out of 392 total incidents and accident that were caused by driver-assistance technology were reported by Teslas, nearly 70 percent. Honda comes second with 90 incidents, while Subaru trails behind with 10 and other European, American and Asian automakers have fewer than five
Nearly 400 car crashes in the US within a ten-month period were caused by self-driving or driver assistance technology, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report found.
Teslas were involved in the vast majority of those crashes, 273 out of 392, which occurred between July 1, 2021, and May 15 this year and resulted in six deaths and five serious injuries.
Worldwide automobile companies made the disclosures to the NHTSA after the regulator issued an order in June 2021 requiring automakers and tech companies to immediately report all crashes involving advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and vehicles equipped with automated driving systems being tested on public roads.
Of the remaining amount of crashes involving ADAS technology reported by a dozen automakers, 90 of them involved Hondas and 10 were Subrarus. Ford Motor, General Motors (GM), BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai and Porsche reported fewer than five incidents each.
History of fatal crashes tied to Tesla Autopilot
January 20, 2016 in China: Gao Yaning, 23, died when the Tesla Model S he was driving slammed into a road sweeper on a highway near Handan, a city about 300 miles south of Beijing. Chinese media reported that Autopilot was engaged.
Joshua D. Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio died in an Autopilot crash in May 2016
May 7, 2016 in Williston, Florida: Joshua D. Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio died when cameras in his Tesla Model S failed to distinguish the white side of a turning tractor-trailer from a brightly lit sky.
The NTSB found that the truck driver’s failure to yield the right of way and a car driver’s inattention due to overreliance on vehicle automation were the probable cause of the crash.
The NTSB also noted that Tesla Autopilot permitted the car driver to become dangerously disengaged with driving. A DVD player and Harry Potter movies were found in the car.
March 23, 2018 in Mountain View, California: Apple software engineer Walter Huang, 38, died in a crash on U.S. Highway 101 with the Autopilot on his Tesla engaged.
The vehicle accelerated to 71 mph seconds before crashing into a freeway barrier, federal investigators found.
The NTSB, in a preliminary report on the crash, also said that data shows the Model X SUV did not brake or try to steer around the barrier in the three seconds before the crash in Silicon Valley.
Crash scene photos show the wreck on March 23, 2018 in Mountain View, California
March 1, 2019 in Delray, Florida: Jeremy Banner, 50, died when his 2018 Tesla Model 3 slammed into a semi-truck.
NTSB investigators said Banner turned on the autopilot feature about 10 seconds before the crash, and the autopilot did not execute any evasive maneuvers to avoid the crash.
April 17, 2021 in Houston, Texas
A Tesla smashed into a tree and burst into flames in Texas, resulting in the deaths of two men – the car’s owner Doctor William Varner, and his pal Everette Talbot.
Police had said it was apparent that there was no one in the driver’s seat at the time of the crash in the wealthy The Woodlands neighborhood of Houston, on April 17.
But Tesla had refuted police’s claims, saying a deformed steering wheel suggested that someone was likely in the driver’s seat.
Varner, 59, and Talbot, 69, both died in the fatal crash when the Tesla Model S – bought second-hand off eBay in January – smashed into a tree and burst into flames.
Dr. William Varner, 59, and Everette Talbot, 69, both died in the fatal crash when the Tesla Model S smashed into a tree and burst into flames
May 5, 2021 in Los Angeles, California
Steven Michael Hendrickson, 35, was killed when his white Tesla Model 3 struck an overturned semi-truck at about 2.30am on May 5
Steven Michael Hendrickson, 35, was killed when his white Tesla Model 3 struck an overturned semi-truck at about 2.30am on May 5.
Before his death, the married father of two posted social media videos of himself riding in the electric vehicle without his hands on the wheel or foot on its pedal.
The crash happened on the 210 Freeway near Fontana, California – about 50 miles east of Los Angeles.
A preliminary investigation determined that the Tesla’s partially automated driving system called Autopilot ‘was engaged’ prior to the crash.
A spokesman added that no final conclusion had been reached on what exactly had caused the fatal crash – the 29th involving a Tesla to have been probed by federal agency the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The Mack truck, which the Tesla collided with, had crashed and overturned just five minutes earlier, blocking two lanes of the highway, according to a highway patrol report.
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