The Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly started investigating a fatal Tesla crash that happened on May 7th this year, the crash is already being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because the company’s semi-autonomous Autopilot system was switched on when the crash happened. The SEC is looking into the matter to ascertain whether Tesla broke the law by not informing investors about the crash immediately.
Tesla didn’t inform investors of this crash until last month and it’s the timing that’s making people curious. The crash happened on May 7th and Tesla didn’t say anything on or before May 18th and May 19th when it sold $2 billion worth of company stock.
Tesla’s version is that it informed the NHTSA about the crash on May 16th before it had barely started its investigation, adding that it wasn’t until May 18th that a Tesla investigator was able to go down to Florida to inspect the car and pull data from it. Apparently, the car had been damaged so badly that it could pull data remotely.a
It also notes that this crash was not caused by its Autopilot system rather “the result of a semi-tractor trailer crossing both lanes of a divided highway in front of an oncoming car,” that’s the official version from Tesla.
SEC’s investigation is reportedly in early stages at this point in time and it can’t be said for sure if it’s going to take any action against Tesla.