Tesla Faces Investigation Over Full Self-Driving Traffic Violations
Big news in the auto world: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is digging deep into Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. We're talking about a massive investigation covering over 2.8 million vehicles. It sounds pretty serious.
Essentially, the NHTSA is looking into incidents where Teslas using FSD seem to be breaking traffic laws. I'm talking about things like running red lights and even driving the wrong way on streets. It's definitely not something you want your car doing, especially when it's supposed to be driving itself!
The Office of Defects Investigation is examining a hefty 58 traffic safety incidents involving FSD, which include accidents that caused injuries. Imagine your car not stopping at a red light, or worse, turning into the wrong lane when it shouldn't. Scary, right? While this sounds bad, remember that these technologies aren't perfect and this investigation intends to make sure that it is getting better.
Tesla's already been under NHTSA's microscope. In the past, they looked into FSD-related crashes in low-visibility conditions. The agency also concluded that Tesla's driver-assist features need to do a better job of keeping drivers alert. I think it's a fair point. If a car is doing most of the driving, it's easy to lose focus.
It doesn't stop there. The NHTSA is also checking if Tesla is reporting FSD or Autopilot crashes promptly. Plus, they're taking a look at those electronic door handles. Apparently, they've been linked to some lawsuits because people got trapped inside their cars. That's a detail that worries me about the cars. Things like that shouldn't happen!
This new investigation will focus on the red light and wrong-way violations, but it will also review incidents at railroad crossings. There was a report last month that showed Teslas with FSD failing to stop at railroad crossings with trains approaching. This is something that I think we should give special attention, as there are no second chances in front of a train.
This investigation couldn't come at a worse time for Tesla. They're trying to get approval for their robotaxi service. Right now, they're running a ride-hailing service with safety monitors in the car in San Francisco and Austin. Elon Musk wants to expand this to a large portion of the US by the end of the year. Hopefully this all can be resolved soon, so we can enjoy our new technologies safely.
Source: The Verge