Tesla recalls 2M US vehicles due to Autopilot safety concerns
December 13, 2023 – 3:47 PM UTC
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tesla (TSLA.O) is issuing a recall for over two million vehicles in the United States equipped with its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system. This move comes after a safety regulator expressed concerns about the system’s safety.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating Tesla, led by billionaire Elon Musk, for more than two years. The investigation focuses on whether Tesla vehicles ensure that drivers remain attentive while using Autopilot. This recall appears to cover almost all Tesla vehicles on U.S. roads.
Tesla stated in the recall filing that the controls of Autopilot’s software system “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse” and could increase the risk of accidents.
Acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson emphasized the importance of driver monitoring systems considering that humans tend to overly rely on technology.
Tesla’s Autopilot is designed to enable cars to automatically steer, accelerate, and brake within their lane. However, it does not make the vehicles fully autonomous. Enhanced Autopilot can assist with lane changes on highways.
One component of Autopilot is Autosteer, which maintains a set speed or following distance and keeps the vehicle in its lane.
Tesla disagreed with NHTSA’s analysis but announced that it would release an over-the-air software update. This update will incorporate additional controls and alerts to encourage drivers to fulfill their responsibility while Autosteer is engaged.
It is unclear whether the recall will extend beyond the United States or if China will demand a recall for the same issue.
Regulators in Italy and Germany are also looking into the matter, although no similar actions have been reported yet.
‘FORESEEABLE MISUSE’
NHTSA initiated an investigation into Autopilot in August 2021 after identifying multiple crashes involving Tesla vehicles colliding with stationary emergency vehicles. The investigation was upgraded in June 2022. NHTSA concluded that Tesla’s unique design of Autopilot can lead to inadequate driver engagement and usage controls, resulting in foreseeable misuse of the system. The agency reviewed 956 crashes where Autopilot was allegedly in use and focused on 322 Autopilot-involved crashes during its probe.
Bryant Walker Smith, a transportation issues expert and law professor at the University of South Carolina, believes that the software-only fix will have limited effectiveness. He argues that the recall places too much responsibility on human drivers instead of addressing the system’s potential for misuse.
Separately, NHTSA has opened more than three dozen special crash investigations involving Tesla since 2016. These investigations focused on cases where driver systems like Autopilot were suspected of being used, resulting in 23 reported crash deaths.
NHTSA warns that there is an increased risk of accidents when the Autopilot system is engaged, but the driver fails to maintain responsibility for vehicle operation or fails to recognize when the system is canceled or not.
NHTSA will continue to monitor the effectiveness of Tesla’s remedies as it keeps the investigation into Autopilot open. Tesla and NHTSA have held several meetings to discuss the agency’s tentative conclusions on potential driver misuse and Tesla’s proposed software solutions.
The recall will apply to 2.03 million Model S, X, 3, and Y vehicles in the United States, dating back to the 2012 model year.
The update will include visual alerts on the user interface, simplified engagement and disengagement of Autosteer, and additional checks upon engaging Autosteer. Tesla also mentioned the possibility of suspending Autosteer use if the driver repeatedly fails to demonstrate continuous and sustained driving responsibility while the feature is engaged. However, specific details about the changes to alerts and safeguards were not provided.
In morning trading, shares of Tesla, the world’s most valuable automaker, were down 1.5%.
In October, Tesla disclosed that the U.S. Justice Department had issued subpoenas related to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) and Autopilot systems. Additionally, the company is under criminal investigation over claims that its electric vehicles can drive themselves.
Earlier this year, Tesla recalled 362,000 U.S. vehicles to update its FSD Beta software after NHTSA determined that the vehicles did not comply adequately with traffic safety laws and could cause accidents.
NHTSA previously closed an investigation into Autopilot in 2017 without taking any action. However, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has criticized Tesla for lacking system safeguards for Autopilot, and NHTSA for failing to ensure the system’s safety.
Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington, additional reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome and Christina Amann in Berlin; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Mark Potter, Sharon Singleton, and Tomasz Janowski
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