NHTSA Upgrades Tesla Autopilot Probe Closer to Potential Recall
Federal safety regulators upgrade their Tesla Autopilot investigation to an Engineering Analysis after linking five additional crashes to the system. The move brings the agency a step closer to a potential recall over driver engagement concerns.
Federal safety regulators upgrade their investigation into Tesla Autopilot to an Engineering Analysis, moving a step closer to a potential recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) expands its probe to evaluate additional data sets, perform vehicle evaluations, and explore how Autopilot may exacerbate human factors or behavioral safety risks by undermining driver supervision.
NHTSA also identifies five additional crashes involving first responder and roadside maintenance vehicles that it believes relate to this ongoing issue. Agency data reveals that drivers receive alerts within five minutes of a crash in only two of the examined incidents, suggesting that drivers comply with Tesla's driver engagement strategy as it is currently designed.
While this upgrade signifies a heightened level of regulatory scrutiny, it does not guarantee an official recall. Previous NHTSA investigations into Tesla's driver-assistance system attribute several accidents to driver inattention rather than manufacturing defects, but regulators now question whether Tesla's driver engagement strategy is fundamentally insufficient.