NHTSA Warned Tesla Months Before Self-Driving Probe
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Tesla Inc. was admonished by a U.S. agency over how the electric vehicle maker was promoting its driver-assistance technology on social media months before the regulator opened a defect investigation of the system.
In a May 15 email sent to Tesla representatives, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official flagged seven social media posts that gave the agency pause. Each post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter that Tesla CEO Elon Musk owns, showcased disengaged drivers using the system Tesla markets as Full Self-Driving, or FSD.
“We believe that Tesla’s postings conflict with its stated messaging that the driver is to maintain continued control over the dynamic driving task,” Gregory Magno, a division chief within NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation, wrote in the letter posted on the agency’s website Nov. 8. “These postings may encourage viewers to see FSD-Supervised as a Chauffer [sic] or ‘Robotaxi’ rather than a partial automation / driver-assist system that requires persistent attention and intermittent intervention by the driver.”
The email shows how closely NHTSA monitored Tesla and FSD before investigating the system. Magno noted that the agency had asked the company to brief NHTSA’s technical staff about offering free FSD trials. He wrote that Tesla complied and emphasized ways it had communicated to drivers that their vehicles weren’t autonomous.
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Before and after providing that briefing to NHTSA, Tesla published reposts on X that Magno deemed problematic. The examples included:
• A Tesla SUV owner who wrote that he’d used FSD to get to the hospital while having a mild heart attack
FSD V12 helped owner get to the hospital when he needed immediate medical attention https://t.co/d70VfBs0gl — Tesla (@Tesla) April 11, 2024
• A video of a Tesla owner using FSD while leaving a sports event’s parking garage that led commenters to write they “can foresee more drinkers getting home safely”
$99/month https://t.co/tums3sxDqq — Tesla (@Tesla) May 6, 2024
• A video of a Tesla driver admitting to being inattentive while driving
When FSD Supervised is engaged, multiple cameras & a neural network are looking around your Tesla at all times, never getting distracted or tired https://t.co/E7vp1X4Tgj — Tesla (@Tesla) April 26, 2024
“While Tesla has the discretion to communicate with the public as it sees fit, we note that these posts show lost opportunities to temper enthusiasm for a new product with cautions on its proper use with the points that Tesla has made to us,” Magno wrote.
Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment.
NHTSA opened its FSD investigation in October, citing four collisions involving cars using the system. In one crash, a Tesla Model Y SUV fatally struck a pedestrian.
The agency is assessing whether the system can detect and appropriately respond to fog and other reduced-visibility conditions. Magno’s email was included in an information request NHTSA sent to Tesla dated Nov. 5, Election Day.
The regulator posted the filing on its website Nov. 8 and gave Tesla until Dec. 18 to address questions regarding FSD.
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