Tesla is recalling more than 362,000 cars equipped with its Full Self Driving driver assistance system after government regulators found it increased the risk of accidents.
The company’s technology, which can steer, accelerate, brake and change lanes on its own, allows vehicles to travel above legal speed limits and through intersections in an “illegal or unpredictable manner,” the Administration said Thursday. National Highway Traffic Safety in documents released Thursday. your website
Testing and analysis by the safety agency showed that a component of the system that directs cars on city streets could create “an unreasonable risk to the safety of motor vehicles based on insufficient enforcement of traffic safety laws.” ”. The agency said Tesla was not aware of any deaths or injuries caused by the faults the agency had identified.
The safety agency said the recall addressed only one set of concerns it had with Full Self Driving and that it was continuing to investigate the less-advanced system and technology Tesla calls Autopilot.
Despite their names, neither system can drive cars on its own, and Tesla tells its car owners to be prepared to take control at any time while using its driver-assist technology. He also instructs car owners to keep their hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road.
Safety experts have often raised concerns about Tesla systems and similar technology offered by other automakers. One of his biggest fears is that people will be so deluded into thinking their cars drive themselves that they won’t be able to take control when the technology malfunctions or handle certain traffic conditions.
Data released by the federal safety agency last summer showed that six people were killed and five seriously injured in nearly 400 incidents from July 1, 2021, to May 15, 2022, involving cars using advanced assistive technologies. to the driver. Tesla’s technology, which is installed in far more cars than systems offered by other automakers, was used in 273 crashes, five of which were fatal.
The safety agency said Thursday that Tesla agreed to the recall and planned to fix the flaws via an over-the-air update to affected vehicles, according to a letter posted on the agency website. The recall involves all four models the company makes and covers vehicles produced between 2016 and 2023. The automaker intends to notify owners of the recalled vehicles by mail no later than April 15.
The safety agency said Tesla disagreed with the regulators’ analysis, but the company had agreed to a voluntary recall “out of an abundance of caution.”
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
The agency is investigating 41 crashes since 2016 involving Tesla vehicles using the company’s advanced driver assistance systems, including 14 that left a total of 19 dead.
