Probe Into Fatal California Tesla Crash Involving Motorcyclist

After a Tesla crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSA) has opened a special investigation. The incident involved a 2021 Tesla Model Y and left a motorcyclist dead in California. According to a Reuters news report, since 2016, NHTSA has opened 37 special investigations into crashes involving Tesla vehicles in which driver-assist systems such as Autopilot were suspected of being used. Those investigations into Tesla vehicles reported 18 deaths, including the most recent California motorcycle crash.

Deadly Motorcycle v Tesla Crash in Riverside

While the agency has declined to identify the specific crash that triggered this investigation, according to media reports, 48-year-old Marvin Walker of Lake Elsinore was fatally injured in the motorcycle accident on the eastbound 91 Freeway near Magnolia Avenue in Riverside. When the Tesla approached from behind, California Highway Patrol officials said Walker was riding a Yamaha V-Star motorcycle in the HOV lane. The vehicles collided at “some point,” and Walker was ejected from the motorcycle. Officials reported that he landed on the freeway, sustaining significant blunt-force injuries. The responding paramedics pronounced him dead shortly after.

Recent Tesla Autopilot Investigations

This is one of three special probes involving Tesla that opened recently. Another investigation involves a Florida crash that killed a 66-year-old Tesla driver and a 67-year-old passenger. Yet another was over a California pedestrian accident involving a 2018 Tesla Model 3. In June, the federal agency upgraded its defect investigation into 830,000 Tesla vehicles with Autopilot, a required step before it can seek a recall. In August, the agency opened a preliminary evaluation to assess the performance of the Autopilot feature in 765,000 vehicles after at least a dozen crashes in which Teslas struck emergency vehicles. Our auto defect lawyers have been following these Tesla Autopilot cases. While we are for progress and groundbreaking technology, we have always maintained that it should never come at the cost of public safety. We should thoroughly vet these technologies before putting them on the market. It increasingly appears that Tesla has not adequately vetted the Autopilot system. Related: Read our 2026 motorcycle safety survey on rider bias. Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-investigates-california-tesla-crash-that-killed-motorcyclist-2022-07-18/

Motorcyclist Killed in Collision with Tesla on Riverside Freeway