Suppression of Autopilot Monitoring System Use in New Model S, X, and 3 Autonomous Vehicles after the NHTSA Collision Anomaly

Nearly all of the Model S, X, and 3 that have ever sold in the US are receiving updates to address a defect in the company’s autopilot system. On Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a recall notice for the vehicles following a two-year investigation into a series of collisions that occurred involving Tesla vehicles using Autopilot, which comes as standard on every new Tesla.

The investigation showed that the autopilot method of controlling drivers is inadequate and there may not be enough to prevent driver misuse when Autosteer is engaged.

The agency believes that the method of ensuring that drivers are paying attention can be inadequate and that can lead to foreseeable misuse of the system.

The software update includes additional controls and alerts “to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility,” the documents said.

When it’s not using a more sophisticated feature called Autosteer on City Streets, the feature called Autosteer is used for use on limited access freeways.

Auto safety advocates for years have been calling for stronger regulation of the driver monitoring system, which mainly detects whether a driver’s hands are on the steering wheel.

Is Autopilot A Self-driving Autonomous System? The NHTSA Inquiry into Tesla’s Importance for Safety

According to Tesla’s own literature, “Autopilot is a hands-on driver assistance system that is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver. It does not turn a Tesla into a self-driving car nor does it make a car autonomous.” So, despite its name, although Autopilot can steer, accelerate and brake automatically in lane, it cannot drive for you.

NHTSA said the investigation ofTesla is still open as it continues to look at the automaker’s remedies for safety.