NHTSA

The Tesla Model S and Model X are the safest cars in history... unless they're not. The variations in automotive crash testing are once again under the microscope, with Tesla protesting the latest batch of IIHS results after the Model S electric sedan failed again to ace the controversial small overlap frontal test. It's a frustrating blip for the EV company, which actually redesigned the car in the hope of performing better in the crash testing.

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The driver killed in a high-profile Tesla crash last year repeatedly ignored warnings by the semi-autonomous Autopilot system to take control, US investigators have concluded. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had been digging into the May 2016 incident in which Ohio resident Joshua Brown's Tesla Model S collided with a tractor-semitrailer truck near Williston, Florida, and has now released its accident docket. More than 500 pages of information have been revealed about the fatal crash, including technological reports, interview transcripts, and photographs.

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The Tesla Model X has become the first SUV to ever score a full 5-stars in NHTSA crash testing, with the all-electric car credited as being the safest SUV around. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration examines crash performance in categories like frontal impacts, side impacts, and pole impacts. For SUVs, though, the most arduous challenge is often the risk of overturning in an incident, which the NHTSA calls the rollover probability.

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Until now, the only way one car could communicate with another was if the driver leaned on the horn or made imaginative hand-signals to their fellow motorists. With the arrival of the 2017 Cadillac CTS, though, all of a sudden the vehicle itself gets chatty. Making V2V, or Vehicle-to-Vehicle, communication a standard feature, it promises not only an increase in on-road safety but to pave the way to new semi-autonomous and self-driving features. The big question is, with Vehicle-to... well, anything still in its infancy, why is Cadillac making the jump now?

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GM and Toyota will pressure lawmakers to loosen rules on self-driving cars, arguing that restrictive current regulations are leading to thousands of preventable deaths. Representatives from the two automakers will appear in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday this week, and according to prepared remarks will criticize existing laws on autonomous vehicles and the testing of such vehicles. Among their complaints are restrictions that demand traditional controls must be available.

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It looks like things are coming up Tesla today. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has closed its investigation into a fatal crash that was blamed on Tesla's Autopilot system, present in a variety of different Tesla models. The investigation was closed without any kind of recall, much to the joy of Elon Musk, who tweeted about the "very positive" final report.

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Just when it seemed like Apple's much-rumored self-driving car project was on the verge of collapse, more evidence surfaces that Cupertino still has plans in place. A recent letter from Apple to the US's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been dug up, where the former writes that it is "investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation."

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US driving safety regulators are pushing for a strict limit on what smartphone tech can be used in the car, recommending phones go into lockdown when plugged into the dashboard. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published its first set of guidelines on driver distraction for portable and aftermarket devices, effectively outlining its goals for cutting down on unsafe smartphone use while at the wheel. Though not a law, it's nonetheless a strict set of suggestions for how platforms like iOS and Android should behave, including limitations on apps and features that may leave drivers frustrated.

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The NHTSA has announced that it has set a new "Quiet Car" safety standard that will make sure that hybrids and EVs make some noise when they are traveling at low speeds. The problem with near silent EVs and hybrids is that people with low vision or who are blind may not know that the vehicles are there leading to accidents if they walk out in traffic ahead of the vehicles. The NHTSA says that mandating a certain noise level will help prevent about 2,400 injuries each year.

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The crashed Tesla that collided with a truck while in Autopilot mode, killing the driver, had a portable DVD player reportedly still playing "Harry Potter" inside when witnesses rushed to the scene. Investigators of the May accident, in which the electric car's systems apparently failed to see a tractor-trailer crossing the highway ahead due to lighting conditions and the truck's color, are still examining data extracted from the Model S' "black box" but questions had already been raised about what might have distracted the driver.

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Tesla's Autopilot is in safety regulators' crosshairs after one driver died using the system, but the NHTSA's own research suggests unrealistic expectations and human nature may be the biggest risk to semi-automated cars. The crash, in May 2016, saw Joshua D. Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio die after his 2015 Model S struck a tractor-trailer crossing the divided highway he was using Autopilot on.

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Tesla's Autopilot system in the Model S is the subject of a preliminary investigation by US safety regulators, after a fatal crash by a driver using the semi-autonomous technology. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed today that it will be making "an examination of the design and performance of any driving aids in use at the time of the crash" in which a driver of a 2015 Model S struck a tractor trailer and was killed.

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