NHTSA Is Reviewing Claims Against Tesla Over Sudden Unintended Acceleration: Will The Agency Investigate?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is reviewing a petition asking for it to formally investigate 500,000 Tesla (TSLA) cars over reports that claim that they suddenly and unintendedly accelerated.

According to Reuters, the petition mentions several Tesla cars, including the 2012 to 2019 Model S, the 2016 to 2019 Model X, and 2018 to 2019 Model 3, which were part of 127 consumer complaints with 123 unique vehicles. The reports also cited 110 crashes and 52 agencies, the news outlet reported.

Several instances of sudden unintended acceleration were reported to the NHTSA, including a 2015 Tesla Model S driver in California that reportedly said his car was closed and locked when “a few moments later the vehicle started accelerating forward towards the street and crashed into a parked car.”

Another Tesla driver in Pennsylvania claimed that the car accelerated on its own when pulling into a parking lot at an elementary school, when “it went over a curb and into a chain link fence,” with yet another Massachusetts Tesla driver saying that when driving into her garage, “the car suddenly lurched forward: and “went through the garage door destroying two garage doors,” according to Reuters.

Tesla did not publicly comment about the NHTSA review at the time of writing.

Shares of Tesla stock were down 0.76% as of 3:10 p.m. EST on Friday.