Tesla will recall 53,822 of its vehicles in the U.S. with the Full Self-Driving (Beta) software that may allow the vehicles to conduct “rolling stops” so they do not completely stop at some intersections and could pose a safety risk.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Tesla will conduct an over-the-air software update that disables the rolling stop functionality. In an email to Fierce Electronics, the agency also said it “maintains regular discussions with all manufacturers to discuss potential safety concerns of these types of systems.”
NHTSA noted it relies on the Vehicle Safety Act which prohibits manufacturers from selling vehicles “with defects posing unreasonable risks to safety, including intentional design choices that are unsafe. If the information shows that a safety risk may exist, NHTSA will act immediately.”
The agency first posted its Safety Recall Report on the Jan. 27.
On Feb. 1, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, took exception to some characterizations about the safety recall in a tweet, his principle public relations conduit these days. “Indeed, there were no safety issues,” he tweeted. “The car simply slowed to ~ 2 mph & continued forward if clear view with no cars or pedestrians.”
In subsequent days, his tweet provoked a firestorm of attacks from his critics and applause from his supporters, probably all the better for raising his profile and the popularity of Tesla vehicles, which are by far the top-selling electric vehicles in the U.S. Tesla delivered 936,000 vehicles globally in 2021.
“Musk is a first-class showman,” said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. “That’s how he got where is today. Of course, he is pretty smart too. He thrives on the attention.”
Some of the more serious-minded arguments directed at the issue of safety accused Musk of “trying to redefine the definition of ‘stop,’” as Patt Morrison tweeted.
Another tweet posted by Pope of Muskanity noted that there have been no reports of anyone hurt by the FSD beta software features. “However, in some jurisdictions, where you could have tweaked the software for, rolling stops are a violation of traffic laws…Overall, the NHTSA’s decision is no big deal.”
Twitter account TheWarOnTesla added, “Maybe no safety issues but legal issues? Since when does Tesla, Inc. get to decide what laws to obey and what ones not to?”
Aside from the back-and-forth dialog on Twitter about Musk’s interpretation of vehicle safety, there is growing support by some Musk followers to push for President Biden to actually utter the word “Tesla” in describing the importance of electric vehicles. Biden has often mentioned Ford and GM in regard to EVs and recently omitted Tesla in a tweeted video.
Musk noticed the omission and tweeted, “Starts with a T. Ends with an A. ESL in the middle.”
When Tesla was not invited to a White House event on Wednesday, but GM and Ford CEOs were invited, Musk called the president via tweet a “damp sock puppet in human form” and argued, “Biden is treating the American public like fools.”
Aside from the name-calling or lack thereof, there are some serious issues involved about autonomous vehicle safety.
“Tesla needs to do a better job of totally vetting features,” Gold added. “There is no justification for Tesla to add a feature such as rolling stops that violates traffic laws in many places even if that is the way drivers normally drive. Tesla should err on the side of caution and not enable bad habits.”
All of which raises another concern: How many times has the average driver rolled through a stop sign? And: How many times have police ticketed such behavior?
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