Tesla is recalling and updating nearly all of its two million electric cars sold in the U.S. to place additional restrictions on its built-in self-driving assistance mode, Autosteer. Research has shown that Autosteer can be extremely dangerous and has been blamed for several accidents and deaths.
The massive recall was revealed in a formal letter to Tesla, from December 12th, published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to the letter, after an investigation into the situation, NHTSA determined that Tesla’s systems, which are designed to keep the driver engaged, alert and focused on the road when using Autopilot-like mode, “were not sufficient to prevent driver abuse.” to prevent”.
To remedy the situation, Tesla has been tasked with releasing a software update that will more frequently check whether a driver using Autosteer is actually paying attention. If the software-controlled car encounters a situation that requires a human driver, such as: For example, when approaching a traffic light or exiting the highway, or if it detects that the driver is not paying attention, the car will turn off the autosteer and give control back to the person behind the wheel. While Tesla vehicles already have features for to monitor attention and limit the use of Autosteer, NHTSA found that this was not enough, stating in its letter that Autosteer could lead to an “increased risk of accidents.”
As reported by JalopnikThis recall follows a year-long investigation by NHTSA that found numerous accidents caused by the controversial Autopilot mode, in which some people died. The investigation will not be completed so quickly either; It remains an open question as the agency monitors whether Tesla’s patch improves the situation and leads to a reduction in accidents, injuries and deaths related to automatic steering.
This is the second major recall of Tesla vehicles and their Autopilot modes in 2023. As reported by BloombergIn February, 362,000 cars were recalled and upgraded due to similar issues related to Tesla’s self-driving mode.
Meanwhile, on the day this letter was sent, Tesla and Twitter (X, whatever) were owners Elon Musk Was Tweet meme pictures that even your grandma on Facebook in 2019 would have rolled her eyes before screaming about how bad new music is these days. Before that he was Encouraging X users to follow terrible people and conspiratorsAnd Frog lover Alex Jones after reactivating Jones’ long-suspended account.
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