More than 2 million Tesla vehicles were recalled on Wednesday – but this is just the latest controversy surrounding Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features, which reports say have been linked to over 736 crashes and 750 instances of “phantom braking” since its launch in 2016.
Key Facts
Investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have shown that Tesla drivers are often “unprepared” to take control of their vehicles while using the Autopilot feature, prompting the electric vehicle manufacturer to recall over 2 million vehicles on Wednesday to implement a software update that addresses the issue.
The Autopilot feature is considered an “advanced driver assistance system” that comes as standard with every Tesla vehicle in 2023, while Full Self-Driving is an optional feature that includes automatic driving on city streets and automatic stopping at stop signs and traffic lights.
Both features are intended to be used by a “fully attentive driver, with their hands on the wheel and ready to intervene at any moment,” according to the company.
Background
The Autopilot feature was first announced in Tesla vehicles in 2013, but it was not offered as a feature in vehicles until 2016. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating the feature following a fiery crash in 2018, which resulted in the death of a 38-year-old video game developer who crashed into a highway barrier in Santa Clara, California. In 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration determined the crash resulted from “over-reliance on technology,” and concluded the driver was playing a video game on his mobile phone when the incident occurred. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration criticized Tesla for marketing the Autopilot feature in this way. NHTSA Administrator Robert Sumwalt stated, “Every car sold to consumers in the United States requires the driver to be actively engaged in the driving task, even when advanced driver assistance systems are activated. If you are selling a car equipped with an advanced driver assistance system, you are not selling a self-driving car.”
The Full Self-Driving feature in Tesla is also under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The electric vehicle manufacturer is facing another lawsuit in California regarding how this feature is marketed. The lawsuit claims that after activating Full Self-Driving mode, a Tesla driver accelerated to 65 miles per hour, veered off the highway, and crashed into a palm tree. The driver died in the collision and two other passengers were injured. In court in October, Tesla engineer Eloy Rubio Blanco insisted that customers were not misled by the product name “Full Self-Driving Capability Package” into thinking that the cars could drive themselves. Blanco testified, “Do I think that our drivers believe that our cars are self-driving? No,” according to Reuters.
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