Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX, Tesla, and owner of Twitter, attended the Viva Technology conference in Paris, France on June 16, 2023. The conference focused on innovation and startups.
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Tesla is facing potential fines if it fails to provide the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) with extensive records regarding its Autopilot safety probe.
The federal agency requires information about Tesla’s advanced driver assistance systems, including Autopilot, Full Self-Driving, and FSD Beta options. Failure to comply could result in “civil penalties of up to $26,315 per violation per day,” with a maximum total of $131,564,183 for multiple violations in a day, according to NHTSA.
NHTSA launched an investigation into Autopilot safety in 2021 after a series of accidents involving Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot colliding with stationary first responders’ vehicles and road work vehicles.
It is important to note that Tesla’s driver assistance systems are not autonomous, and the company’s cars cannot operate as robotaxis like Cruise or Waymo vehicles. Tesla vehicles require a driver to be present, ready to take control at any moment. Autopilot and FSD only handle braking, steering, and acceleration in specific situations.
NHTSA is seeking specific details from Tesla, such as the software, hardware, and other components installed in each car sold or used in the U.S. from 2014 to 2023. They also want to know the date when any Tesla vehicle was admitted into the “Full-Self Driving beta” program.
Tesla’s FSD Beta program consists of driver assistance features that are still being tested and improved. Instead of relying on professional safety drivers, Tesla uses its customers as testers. The company has previously issued voluntary recalls and promised over-the-air software updates to address issues with Autopilot and FSD Beta.
In February 2023, NHTSA issued a notice stating that Tesla’s FSD Beta driver assistance system may exhibit unsafe behavior at intersections, such as going straight through a turn-only lane or not stopping at a stop sign-controlled intersection.
According to NHTSA’s data, there have been 21 known fatal collisions involving Tesla vehicles equipped with driver assistance systems, surpassing other automakers offering similar features.
NHTSA is also reviewing a petition from automotive safety researcher Ronald Belt regarding “sudden unintended acceleration” events in Tesla vehicles. This petition calls for a re-opening of an earlier probe to determine the root causes of these incidents, where a vehicle unexpectedly accelerates while parked or driving at a normal speed.
Lars Moravy, Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, has yet to respond to the request for comment.
For the full letter from NHTSA to Tesla requesting extensive new records, you can click here.
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