WASHINGTON - U.S. auto safety regulators said Thursday they had opened a new special investigation into a fatal pedestrian crash in California involving a 2018 Tesla Model 3.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had previously opened 35 investigations involving Tesla vehicles in which advanced driver assistance systems like Autopilot were suspected of being used since 2016. A total of 15 crash deaths have been reported in those Tesla investigations, including the most recent incident.

Tesla, which has disbanded its press office, did not respond to a request for comment.

  - Reuters