Over the past few years, a number of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) have been under scrutiny from various federal organizations, a trend that began with Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) features. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Tesla Autopilot years ago following a number of high-profile accidents, and proceeded to request information pertaining to vehicles equipped with Level 2 driver-assist systems from a number of other automakers, including Ford. Since then, The Blue Oval has faced its own issues with BlueCruise – and a new NHTSA investigation opened recently following two fatal crashes involving the use of that system – and now, Tesla has been hit with another investigation over Autopilot as well.
This new investigation opened by the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) pertains to more than two million 2012-2024 Tesla Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck models to assess the effectiveness of a recall issued over the automaker’s Autopilot system some time ago. Additionally, ODI noted that it plans to investigate “the prominence and scope of Autopilot controls to address misuse, mode confusion, or usage in environments the system is not designed for.”
Thus far, NHTSA has been notified of 20 crashes that occurred when Autopilot was engaged in various Tesla vehicles. Much of the problem, it seems, relates to the misuse of this system, as many users have figured out ways to circumvent its requirement to routinely keep one’s hands on the steering wheel.
Even after Tesla’s recall aimed to address these cases of misuse, more crashes have occurred in which driver misuse “played an apparent role,” according to the NHTSA. As such, this new investigation will seek to determine if the previously issued recall is enough, or if further action is needed.
We’ll have more on this investigation soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comment
If you don’t want to physically drive a vehicle then save some money and get a bus or taxi. Never let a computer take over control of a vehicle because they are not like humans who can react to different situations better and quicker most of the time