San Francisco, May 19 (IANS): A US federal agency is reportedly investigating a Tesla crash that killed three people in California earlier this month.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it would open a Special Crash Investigation (SCI), probing to find out more information on what potentially caused a three fatality crash involving a 2022 Tesla Model S, reports Teslarati.

On May 12, a Model S sedan crashed into construction equipment in Newport Beach, California. Three people occupying the vehicle were killed, while three workers outside of the car were injured, according to police.

The crash occurred at around 12.45 a.m. on Pacific Coast Highway. The Model S struck a curb and then slammed into the equipment, a report from the Orange County Register stated.

The accident was recently added to the NHTSA's list of currently-opened SCI cases. Its two most recent cases now involve Tesla vehicles, and a majority of the 42 cases involve Tesla vehicles. Three have been dismissed as not involving Autopilot.

Volvo is among the other manufacturers on the list, with a March 2017 and a March 2018 accident involving its XC90.

The 2017 accident resulted in minor injuries, while the 2018 incident was fatal to the passenger. The XC90 was utilising advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) during both accidents, according to the NHTSA.

The NHTSA lists the investigation case type for the Model S crash as "Advanced Driver Assistance Systems ODI". ODI stands for the NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

The NHTSA may be looking into whether Tesla's driver-assistance features were active or if the company's Autopilot system was active during the time of the accident, the report said.