The NHTSA agency responsible for road safety in the United States has already forced Tesla to indicate with every mention of the FSD system that it still requires constant monitoring of the road situation by the driver. Now regulators are blaming Tesla for encouraging irresponsible use of the feature on social media.
Image Source: Tesla
As CNBC notes, a letter was sent to Tesla’s board of directors back in May in which NHTSA head Gregory Magno stated: “Tesla’s posts (on social media) contradict statements that the driver must maintain continuous control over the dynamic process control of the vehicle.” According to the head of the department, users of social networks who study the information published by Tesla may get the false impression that there is no need to control the vehicle when using the FSD function.
Tesla will now have until December 18 to provide NHTSA with a response to this request along with detailed technical information on the operation of the FSD system. If the company does not do this, it faces a fine of up to $135.8 million, but the time frame for responding to the request can be extended at Tesla’s initiative. The agency is already investigating alleged software defects that led to a number of incidents that were preceded by at least 30 seconds of FSD operation. In one of the accidents, a Tesla electric car hit a pedestrian, who died as a result of the collision.
The head of NHTSA asks Tesla’s board of directors to pay attention to a number of publications on behalf of the company on social networks that promote disregard for safety rules when using FSD. In one of them, a driver in a presumably pre-heart attack state gets to the hospital in a Tesla electric car with FSD activated. In another case, the driver does not interfere with the process of driving the car during a 50-minute trip from a crowded place. The agency also accuses Tesla of encouraging users to use FSD when driving drunk or tired. NHTSA calls on Tesla to bring its information policy in line with its declared rules for the use of its own technologies.