Tesla Secures 5-Week Extension for Investigation into Full Self-Driving Traffic Violations

U.S. auto safety regulators have granted Tesla a five-week extension to respond to an investigation into whether its vehicles violated traffic laws while the Elon Musk-led company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system was engaged.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Friday that it has extended the deadline for key responses until February 23. This extension comes after Tesla requested additional time to manually review thousands of records to identify incidents that may be relevant to the investigation.

This probe is part of a broader federal scrutiny of Tesla’s driver-assistance technology, as regulators examine claims that vehicles utilizing FSD have committed various traffic violations. The NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation in October and, in December, sent Tesla a comprehensive information request. This request sought data on consumer complaints, field reports, crashes, lawsuits, and internal assessments related to alleged violations involving FSD.

So far, the agency has received 62 complaints and has identified additional media and crash reports that may be linked to the issue. In a request dated January 12, Tesla indicated that 8,313 records still needed to be reviewed, stating that it could process approximately 300 records per day.

Tesla has also pointed out the challenges of responding to multiple NHTSA investigations simultaneously. These include separate probes into delayed crash reporting and malfunctioning door handles. The company has expressed concerns that the volume of requests could impact the quality of its responses.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

Topics
Personal Auto
Tesla

U.S. auto safety regulators have granted Tesla a five-week extension to respond to an investigation into whether its vehicles violated traffic laws while the Elon Musk-led company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system was engaged.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Friday that it has extended the deadline for key responses until February 23. This extension comes after Tesla requested additional time to manually review thousands of records to identify incidents that may be relevant to the investigation.

This probe is part of a broader federal scrutiny of Tesla’s driver-assistance technology, as regulators examine claims that vehicles utilizing FSD have committed various traffic violations. The NHTSA opened a preliminary evaluation in October and, in December, sent Tesla a comprehensive information request. This request sought data on consumer complaints, field reports, crashes, lawsuits, and internal assessments related to alleged violations involving FSD.

So far, the agency has received 62 complaints and has identified additional media and crash reports that may be linked to the issue. In a request dated January 12, Tesla indicated that 8,313 records still needed to be reviewed, stating that it could process approximately 300 records per day.

Tesla has also pointed out the challenges of responding to multiple NHTSA investigations simultaneously. These include separate probes into delayed crash reporting and malfunctioning door handles. The company has expressed concerns that the volume of requests could impact the quality of its responses.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

Topics
Personal Auto
Tesla