The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has expressed concerns about Tesla’s portrayal of its Full Self Driving (FSD) technology on social media, in a communication to the EV company. In the correspondence dated May 14 and made public on Friday, the NHTSA mentioned that Tesla’s social media posts seem to contradict the company’s assertion that drivers must continuously control the vehicle when using FSD. It was further noted that the social media posts could incorrectly give an impression of FSD being a Chauffeur or Robotaxi, rather than a partially autonomous system requiring constant attention and occasional intervention from the driver.
In connection with reports of four crashes involving FSD, the NHTSA started an investigation into nearly 2.4 million Tesla vehicles in October. The four reported collisions occurred when a Tesla car entered a reduced visibility area with FSD engaged due to sun glare, fog, or airborne dust, with one incident resulting in a pedestrian’s death.
The NHTSA has provided Tesla until December 18 to furnish details about these crashes and respond to its queries as part of an ongoing investigation. This follows Tesla’s recent recall of over 2 million US vehicles equipped with Autosteer, a component of its advanced driver assistance features, judged insufficient to prevent misuse. Although Tesla plans to improve its safeguards, the NHTSA initiated a separate assessment in April to evaluate the adequacy of Tesla’s proposed rectification.