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| Tesla is required to provide information on its fully autonomous driving program |
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants to know why Tesla did not issue a self-driving recall after the driver assistance system apparently failed to detect a parked emergency vehicle.
NHTSA has also asked the company to provide more information about incomplete public pilot tests of the fully autonomous driving program. The recently launched security assessment process for participation in the program and confidentiality agreement.
Safety authorities' concerns are expressed in two letters that represent the latest move by NHTSA and show that Tesla is being taken more seriously than ever.
The NHTSA announced in March that it had conducted 23 active investigations into potential accidents involving autopilots.
Fears that autopilots won't be able to see rescue vehicles go back a few years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a formal investigation into the problem in August. The company said there have been at least 11 accidents since 2018 in which drivers collided with parked ambulances, injuring 17 people and killing 1.
Tesla released a software update for its car in September to fix problems with the driver assistance system. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would like to know why the company has not completed the formal recall process with this update.
And the agency wrote in one of the publications: You know Tesla. The Vehicle Safety Act states that vehicle and vehicle equipment manufacturers are required to make recalls through NHTSA notifications. This means that the vehicles or devices it manufactures have security flaws or do not meet the safety standards applicable to motor vehicles.
Tesla accused of trying to escape subpoena
The NHTSA Office of Defects is asking the company to set an internal schedule for deciding whether or not to release a software update for September. Any internal company investigation or research relating to this and the exact date the software will reach the customer's vehicle.
The ministry also hopes that the company will provide a list of any incidents at the site or other events that prompted the plan's launch, to see if there were any related outages it was not aware of. The agency also hopes Tesla will provide a technical or legal basis for not filing a subpoena.
This is the first time that the NSA has directly questioned one of Tesla's problems with the recall escape model that business critics have said.
Over the years, the company has made many mechanical repairs to the car, namely internal repairs. This does not happen during the warranty period, some people think it is about avoiding a refund.
Earlier this year, the company recalled more than 100,000 vehicles with a touchscreen failure. This came after great public pressure from the NHTSA.