Tesla recalling 2 million US vehicles over Autopilot safeguards

[December 13, 2023]  By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Tesla is recalling just over two million vehicles in the United States to install new safeguards to prevent the misuse of its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating the electric automaker led by billionaire Elon Musk for more than two years over whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure that drivers pay attention when using the driver assistance system.

Tesla said Autopilot's software system controls "may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse."

Acting NHTSA Administrator Ann Carlson told Reuters earlier this year it's "really important that driver monitoring systems take into account that humans over-trust technology."

Tesla said it will deploy an over-the-air software update that will "incorporate additional controls and alerts to those already existing on affected vehicles to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged."

The agency opened a probe in August 2021 into Autopilot after identifying more than a dozen crashes in which Tesla vehicles hit stationary emergency vehicles.NHTSA said as a result of its investigation Tesla had issued the recall after the agency found "Tesla's unique design of its Autopilot system can provide inadequate driver engagement and usage controls that can lead to foreseeable misuse of the system."

Tesla's Autopilot is intended to enable cars to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within their lane, while enhanced Autopilot can assist in changing lanes on highways but does not make them autonomous.

A Model 3 Tesla vehicle navigates morning rush hour using the car's auto pilot feature in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

Separately, since 2016, NHTSA has opened more than three dozen Tesla special crash investigations in cases where driver systems such as Autopilot were suspected of being used, with 23 crash deaths reported to date.

NHTSA said there may be an increased risk of a crash in situations when the system is engaged but the driver does not maintain responsibility for vehicle operation and is unprepared to intervene or fails to recognize when it is canceled or not.

NHTSA has been investigating Autopilot since August 2021. The agency investigation will remain open as it monitors the efficacy of Tesla’s remedies.

The company will roll out the update to 2.03 million Model S, X, 3 and Y vehicles, the agency said.

The world's most valuable automaker, whose shares were down 1% in premarket trading, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NHTSA closed an earlier investigation into Autopilot in 2017 without taking any action. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has criticized Tesla for a lack of system safeguards for Autopilot, and NHTSA for a failure to ensure the safety of Autopilot.

(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Mark Potter)

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