Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer
Brief news
- The NHTSA is investigating Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” systems for safety issues in low-visibility conditions after fatal incidents involving pedestrians.
- The investigation will assess FSD’s ability to detect visibility challenges and review Tesla’s software updates for safety impacts.
- Approximately 2.4 million Tesla vehicles are under scrutiny, with concerns about the effectiveness of their driver assistance systems.
Detailed news
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, has initiated a new investigation into Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” systems. The investigation is focused on the safety of these systems in “reduced roadway visibility conditions,” such as smog or intense sunlight.
The investigation was initiated in response to an incident in which a Tesla driver, who was utilizing forward-sensing devices (FSD), collided with and fatally struck a pedestrian, as well as other collisions involving FSD that occurred in low-visibility roadways.
The objective of the new investigation, according to records posted to the NHTSA website on Friday morning, is to evaluate:
“Among other things, the capacity of FSD’s engineering controls to detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions; the existence of any other similar FSD crashes in reduced roadway visibility conditions and, if so, the contributing circumstances for those crashes.”
The agency will also investigate Tesla’s over-the-air, software updates to its FSD systems, which are currently marketed as “Full Self-Driving (Supervised),” in order to ascertain the “timing, purpose, and capabilities of any such updates, as well as Tesla’s assessment of their safety impact.”
The NHTSA’s “preliminary evaluation” is applicable to approximately 2.4 million Tesla EVs that are currently on U.S. roads. This population includes Model S and X vehicles manufactured between 2016 and 2024, Model 3 vehicles manufactured between 2017 and 2024, Model Y vehicles manufactured between 2020 and 2024, and Cybertruck vehicles manufactured this year and last. Drivers are permitted to utilize Tesla’s FSD.
Tesla’s premium driver assistance option is FSD, which the company now refers to as a “partial driving automation system.” However, Tesla has previously provided a monthlong complimentary trial to all drivers in the United States.
The federal vehicle safety regulator in the United States monitors collisions that involve the use of advanced driver assistance systems by manufacturers, such as Tesla’s Autopilot or FSD. As of October 1, 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had monitored 1,399 incidents in which Tesla’s driver assistance systems were activated within 30 seconds of the collision. Tragically, 31 of these incidents resulted in fatalities.
Tesla did not promptly respond to a request for comment.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently announced at a marketing event that the company anticipates the implementation of “unsupervised FSD” in Texas and California for the Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles next year.
Musk has been promising the development of autonomous vehicles for an extended period of time. However, Tesla has not yet demonstrated or produced a vehicle that is secure for use on public roads without a human driver, who is prepared to steer or decelerate at any moment.
Source : CNBC News
