This week the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) notified Tesla that the company must provide additional information about a recent software recall and update of the Autopilot feature. The recall was announced in December of 2023 and was intended to improve Tesla’s driver-engagement systems, which are used to monitor whether drivers are safely operating the vehicle. Failure by Tesla to respond before the July 1st deadline could result in fines of up to $135 million.
This request by NHTSA comes on the heels of an April report in which NHTSA studied hundreds of crashes involving Tesla vehicles. The report found that Tesla Autopilot contributed to at least 467 collisions and 14 deaths from January 2018 through August 2023. The report said that drivers involved in those crashes “were not sufficiently engaged in the driving task and that the warnings provided by Autopilot when Autosteer was engaged did not adequately ensure that drivers maintained their attention on the driving task.”
This issue should be on the top of all motorcyclists’ minds as just last month, months after the recall intended to address these problems, a biker was killed by a Tesla reported to be operating on Autopilot.
Later this month, MRF members will be in Washington, D.C. for the 2024 Bikers Inside the Beltway event. You can be sure that this issue and the safety of motorcyclists on the road will be a topic of conversation with hundreds of Congressional offices. The MRF is working to ensure that every Member of Congress knows what former NHTSA official Missy Cummings said last year, “It’s very dangerous for motorcycles to be around Teslas.”
