Tesla Autopilot Probe Moving 'Really Fast' — But No NHTSA Closing Timeline Yet On 'Extensive Investigation'

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration probe into Tesla Inc’s TSLA Autopilot is reportedly moving fast.

What Happened: NHTSA acting head Ann Carlson told reporters in Washington that the regulator is “investing a lot of resources” into the probe, reported Reuters.

She said that the NHTSA is “working really fast” on the investigation but reportedly didn’t offer a timeline on when the investigation will be over. 

“The resources require a lot of technical expertise, actually some legal novelty and so we're moving as quickly as we can, but we also want to be careful and make sure we have all the information we need,” said Carlson, according to Reuters.

See Also: Everything You Need To Know About Tesla (TSLA) Stock

Why It Matters: Since 2016, the NHTSA has launched more than three dozen Tesla special crash investigations where driver assistance systems were suspected of being used with 19 crash deaths reported, noted Reuters.

Carlson said that NHTSA was in talks with Tesla about a Dec. 31 tweet from the automaker’s CEO Elon Musk where he suggested that drivers with more than 10,000 miles using the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system should be able to disable the “steering wheel nag,” reported Reuters.

She said that NHTSA has a very “extensive investigation ongoing... We are in conversations with Tesla about this latest communication."

The NHTSA is probing whether Tesla vehicles are adequately ensuring that drivers are paying attention to the road.

Price Action: On Monday, Tesla shares closed 5.9% higher at $119.77 in the regular session and fell 0.18% in the after-hours trading, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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