Tesla faces safety investigation into “phantom braking” after surge of complaints

U.S. car safety regulators have launched another investigation into Tesla, this time linked to complaints that their cars could be stopped on the roads for no apparent reason.

The government says it has 354 complaints from owners over the past nine months about “ghost braking” in the Tesla Models 3 and Y. The probe covers approximately 416,000 vehicles from the 2021 and 2022 model years.

No accidents or injuries were reported.

The vehicles are equipped with partially automated driver assistance functions, such as adaptive cruise control and “Autopilot”, which allows them to brake and steer automatically in their lanes.

Documents released Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say vehicles can brake unexpectedly at highway speeds.

“Complainants report that rapid deceleration can occur without warning and often repeatedly during a single driving cycle,” the agency says.

Many owners of the complaints say they feared a post-highway crash.

The latest in a series of regulators’ efforts

The investigation is another of a series of agency enforcement efforts that include Tesla autopilot and “Full Self-Driving” software. Despite their names, neither function can drive vehicles without the supervision of people.

The Associated Press left messages on Thursday asking for Tesla comments.

This is the fourth formal investigation by the Texas-based automaker in the last three years, and the NHTSA has been monitoring 15 Tesla withdrawals since January 2021. In addition, the agency has sent investigators to at least 33 crashes in which Teslas has been using driver assistance systems since 2016 in which 11 people died.

In one of the complaints, an Austin Tesla owner reported that a Model Y with autopilot brakes repeatedly deployed the brakes for no reason on two-lane roads and highways.

“Phantom braking ranges from a slower throttle response to slowing down to a full emergency braking that drastically slows down at a fast pace, resulting in unsafe driving conditions for the occupants of my vehicle. , as well as for those who might follow me, “the owner wrote in a complaint filed Feb. 2. Complainants are not identified in the public NHTSA database.

Clashes between Tesla and government agencies

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been fighting for years with government agencies in the United States and California, fighting with NHTSA and, most importantly, with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Earlier Thursday, Musk’s lawyers sent a letter to a Manhattan federal judge accusing the SEC of harassing him with investigations and subpoenas for his Twitter posts. In 2018, Musk and Tesla agreed to pay $ 20 million in civil fines for Musk’s tweets about having the money needed to privatize the listed company at $ 420 per share. Funding was far from guaranteed and the company remains public. The agreement specified changes in government, including the removal of Musk as chairman of the board, as well as corporate approval of Musk’s tweets.

Attorney Alex Spiro’s letter accuses the SEC of trying to “morriller” Musk, in large part because he is an open critic of the federal government. “The SEC’s disproportionate efforts appear to be calculated to calm its exercise of First Amendment rights rather than enforcing generally applicable laws fairly,” the letter states.

Shapiro wonders why the SEC has not distributed the $ 40 million in fines to Tesla shareholders more than three years after the deal.

The Associate Press left a message on Thursday asking for SEC comments.

“Funny police made us sigh”

Last week, NHTSA had Tesla recall nearly 579,000 vehicles in the U.S. because a “Boombox” function. it can play sounds through an external speaker and hide audible footage from an oncoming vehicle. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, when asked on Twitter why the company accepted the withdrawal, replied, “Funny police made us sigh.”

Michael Brooks, acting director of the Center for the Safety of Non-Profit Automobile, said it was encouraging to see NHTSA’s enforcement actions “after years of turning the corner.” , with Tesla. But he said the company continues to launch untested software on U.S. roads to make sure it is safe.

“A fragmented investigative approach to every problem that raises its head does not address the biggest problem in Tesla’s security culture: the company’s continued willingness to test its beta technology to the American public while distorting the capabilities of their vehicles, “Brooks wrote in an email. Thursday.

The Washington Post reported an increase in ghost braking complaints from Tesla owners on February 2nd.

Other recent Tesla memories were for vehicles equipped with “full autonomous driving” that were programmed to execute stop signals at slow speeds, heating systems that did not clean the windshields quickly enough. seat belt bells that do not sound to warn drivers that they are not fastened and to fix a feature that allows movies play on touch screens while driving cars. These issues had to be resolved with online software updates.

In August, NHTSA announced a Tesla spacecraft on autopilot does not stop for emergency vehicles parked on the roads. This investigation covers a dozen accidents that killed one person and injured 17 others.

Previous braking problems

Thursday’s investigation comes after Tesla recalled nearly 12,000 vehicles in October for a similar phantom braking problem. The company sent an online software update to fix a bug with its “Full Self-Driving” software.

Tesla released a software update in late September that aims to improve the detection of vehicle emergency lights in low light conditions.

Selected Tesla drivers have been beta testing “Full Self-Driving” software on public roads. Because cars cannot drive alone, drivers must be prepared to intervene at any time, the company warns. NHTSA has also asked the company for information about car testing, including a Tesla requirement that testers not disclose information.

Safety advocates complain that Tesla should not be able to test vehicles in traffic with untrained drivers and that Tesla’s software may malfunction, exposing other drivers and pedestrians to danger. Most other car companies with similar software test with trained human safety drivers.

“NHTSA reminds the public that no commercially available motor vehicle today is capable of driving alone,” the agency said in a statement in August 2021. “All available vehicles require a human driver to be in control. at all times, and all state laws maintain it. “Human drivers are responsible for the operation of their vehicles.”

Musk is also criticized by critics concerns about medical research conducted at the University of California, Davis, about live monkeys involving a company he co-founded called Neuralink, CBS San Francisco reported.