Federal authorities say a “vital security hole” in Tesla‘s Autopilot system contributed to not less than 467 collisions, 13 leading to fatalities and “many others” leading to severe accidents.

The findings come from a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analysis of 956 crashes wherein Tesla Autopilot was thought to have been in use. The outcomes of the almost three-year investigation had been revealed Friday.

Tesla’s Autopilot design has “led to foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes,” the NHTSA report mentioned. The system didn’t “sufficiently guarantee driver consideration and applicable use.”

NHTSA’s submitting pointed to a “weak driver engagement system,” and Autopilot that stays switched on even when a driver is not paying satisfactory consideration to the highway or the driving activity. The motive force engagement system contains numerous prompts, together with “nags” or chimes, that inform drivers to concentrate and preserve their palms on the wheel, in addition to in-cabin cameras that may detect when a driver will not be wanting on the highway. 

The company additionally mentioned it was opening a brand new probe into the effectiveness of a software program replace Tesla beforehand issued as a part of a recall in December. That replace was meant to repair Autopilot defects that NHTSA recognized as a part of this identical investigation.

The voluntary recall by way of an over-the-air software program replace lined 2 million Tesla autos within the U.S., and was presupposed to particularly enhance driver monitoring techniques in Teslas outfitted with Autopilot.

NHTSA steered in its report Friday that the software program replace was most likely insufficient, since extra crashes linked to Autopilot proceed to be reported.

In a single latest instance, a Tesla driver in Snohomish County, Washington, struck and killed a motorcyclist on April 19, in accordance with data obtained by CNBC and NBC Information. The motive force advised police he was utilizing Autopilot on the time of the collision.

The NHTSA findings are the latest in a sequence of regulator and watchdog experiences which have questioned the security of Tesla’s Autopilot know-how, which the corporate has promoted as a key differentiator from different automobile firms.

On its website, Tesla says Autopilot is designed to scale back driver “workload” by means of superior cruise management and computerized steering know-how.

Tesla has not issued a response to Friday’s NHTSA report and didn’t reply to a request for remark despatched to Tesla’s press inbox, investor relations group and to the corporate’s vice chairman of auto engineering, Lars Moravy.

Following the discharge of the NHTSA report, Sens. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., issued a press release calling on federal regulators to require Tesla to limit its Autopilot characteristic “to the roads it was designed for.”

On its Owner’s Manual website, Tesla warns drivers to not function the Autosteer operate of Autopilot “in areas the place bicyclists or pedestrians could also be current,” amongst a number of different warnings.

“We urge the company to take all needed actions to forestall these autos from endangering lives,” the senators mentioned.  

Earlier this month, Tesla settled a lawsuit from the household of Walter Huang, an Apple engineer and father of two, who died in a crash when his Tesla Mannequin X with Autopilot options switched on hit a freeway barrier. Tesla has sought to seal from public view the phrases of the settlement.

Within the face of those occasions, Tesla and CEO Elon Musk signaled this week that they’re betting the corporate’s future on autonomous driving.

“If any individual does not consider Tesla’s going to unravel autonomy, I feel they shouldn’t be an investor within the firm,” Musk mentioned on Tesla’s earnings name Tuesday. He added, “We are going to, and we’re.”

Musk has for years promised prospects and shareholders that Tesla would have the ability to flip its present vehicles into self-driving autos with a software program replace. Nonetheless, the corporate affords solely driver help techniques and has not produced self-driving autos so far.

He has additionally made security claims about Tesla’s driver help techniques with out permitting third-party evaluate of the corporate’s knowledge.

For instance, in 2021, Elon Musk claimed in a submit on social media, “Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching 10 instances decrease likelihood of accident than common automobile.”

Philip Koopman, an automotive security researcher and Carnegie Mellon University affiliate professor of pc engineering, mentioned he views Tesla’s advertising and claims as “autonowashing.” He additionally mentioned in response to NHTSA’s report that he hopes Tesla will take the company’s considerations critically shifting ahead.

“Individuals are dying resulting from misplaced confidence in Tesla Autopilot capabilities. Even easy steps may enhance security,” Koopman mentioned. “Tesla may mechanically limit Autopilot use to supposed roads based mostly on map knowledge already within the automobile. Tesla may enhance monitoring so drivers cannot routinely grow to be absorbed of their cellphones whereas Autopilot is in use.”

A model of this story was published on NBCNews.com.