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Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told the the Wall Street newspaper that Tesla would need to address “basic safety concerns” before the automaker expands its so-called “fully autonomous driving” (FSD) mode.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this month that the company is aiming for a wider release of FSD by the end of September, making a “public beta button” available to more people. Tesla customers. As the WSJ Reports, a software upgrade, which has been designed primarily for highway driving, is expected in order to prepare vehicles for driving on city streets.
Homendy had harsh words for Tesla’s use of the term “fully autonomous driving”, which she called “misleading and irresponsible”, adding that Tesla “has clearly misled many people into abusing and abusing technology”. The NTSB can investigate and make recommendations, but has no enforcement powers.
According to documents obtained by legal transparency group PlainSite in May, Tesla’s director of Autopilot software told the California Department of Motor Vehicles that Musk overestimated the capabilities of the company’s advanced driver assistance system, a precursor of FSD.
In February 2020, the NTSB discovered that Tesla’s autopilot driver assistance system was one of the possible causes of a fatal crash in 2018, stating that the driver, who was playing a mobile game while using the autopilot, was overconfident in the capabilities of the autopilot.
The NTSB said Tesla ignored its 2017 safety recommendations for autopilot. The agency told Tesla and five other automakers that they should add protections to advanced driver assistance systems so that it is more difficult to misuse them. He also recommended that automakers limit where and when such driver assistance systems can be used. Tesla was the only automaker that did not officially respond to the NTSB’s recommendations, although it has increased the frequency of alerts if a driver takes their hands off the wheel while using autopilot.
Tesla did not respond to an email seeking comment on Sunday; the company has dissolved its press service and generally does not respond to media inquiries.
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