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Tesla is recalling and updating almost all of its two million electric cars sold in the United States to place additional limits on their included self-driving assistance mode, Autosteer. Investigations have shown Autosteer can be extremely dangerous, and it’s been blamed for multiple accidents and deaths.
The massive recall was revealed in a formal letter to Tesla, dated December 12, posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to the letter, after NHTSA investigated the situation, it found that Tesla’s systems designed to keep drivers engaged, alert, and focused on the road when using the autopilot-like mode were “not sufficient to prevent driver misuse.”
To remedy the situation Tesla was mandated to push out a software update that will check more often on if a driver using Autosteer is actually paying attention. If the software-guided car enters a situation that demands a human driver, like approaching traffic lights or leaving the highway, or if it determines the driver isn’t paying attention, the car will shut off Autosteer and return control to the person behind the wheel. While Tesla vehicles already had features in place to monitor alertness and limit when Autosteer could be used, the NHTSA found it wasn’t doing enough, stating in its letter that Autosteer could lead to an “increased risk” of crashing.
As reported by Jalopnik, this recall follows a years-long investigation by the NHTSA that found numerous accidents caused by the controversial autopilot mode, some of which led to people dying. The investigation isn’t closing any time soon, either; it will remain open as the agency monitors if Tesla’s patch improves the situation and leads to a reduction in Autosteer-related accidents, injuries, and fatalities.
This is the second large recall of Tesla vehicles and their autopilot modes in 2023. As reported by Bloomberg, in February 362,000 cars were recalled and updated due to similar issues involving Tesla’s self-driving mode.
Meanwhile, the day this letter was sent, Tesla and Twitter (X, whatever) owner Elon Musk was tweeting out meme images that even your grandma on Facebook in 2019 would have rolled her eyes at before yelling about how bad new music is these days. Before that, he was encouraging X users to follow horrible human, conspiracist, and frog lover Alex Jones after reactivating Jones’ long-suspended account.
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