Tesla Inc. is facing renewed federal scrutiny following a tweet from Elon Musk suggesting some drivers may soon be allowed to disable a safety alert under the company’s automated-driving system.
(Bloomberg) — Tesla Inc. is facing renewed federal scrutiny following a tweet from Elon Musk suggesting some drivers may soon be allowed to disable a safety alert under the company’s automated-driving system.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday that it has asked the company for more information since the Tesla chief executive officer’s Dec. 31 post. In it, Musk agreed with a follower who said more-experienced users of Tesla’s so-called “full self-driving” program should be able to turn off the “steering wheel nag.” Musk said an update would be coming in January.
NHTSA said the request for information falls under its ongoing investigation of Autopilot stretching back to August 2021. The agency has been looking into how the system handles crash scenes following a dozen collisions with first responders and other vehicles.
Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations department, didn’t respond to a request for comment on NHTSA’s investigation. The inquiry was reported earlier by the Associated Press.
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