US National Transportation Safety Board Criticizes Tesla for 'No Safety Measures' in Letter

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. (Photo by AP News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), sent a letter to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, criticizing him for not properly addressing safety issues related to the autonomous driving assistance features.

According to the Washington Post (WP) and others on the 25th (local time), Chair Homendy stated in the letter to CEO Musk that Tesla has not properly implemented the safety recommendations raised as a result of a fatal collision that occurred four years ago.

Chair Homendy pointed out that Tesla provided customers with the Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta service before resolving design flaws in the FSD beta software installed in its electric vehicles.

Tesla launched the FSD feature as an additional option in October last year, in addition to the basic autonomous driving assistance feature 'Autopilot,' and has been collecting road driving data by providing the FSD feature to a limited number of customers.

Autopilot offers functions such as adjusting the distance between vehicles within the same lane, while the expanded version of Autopilot, FSD, adds features like automatic lane changing, automatic parking, and vehicle summon.

Previously, the NTSB pointed out issues with Tesla's autonomous driving assistance features in 2017 and recommended safety improvements. Similar recommendations were also delivered to five other automakers.

In the letter, Chair Homendy stated, "Tesla is the only automaker that has not officially responded to the safety improvement recommendations," and criticized, "Tesla's lack of measures is deeply concerning."

She urged that, after investigating a series of Tesla vehicle collisions, the potential misuse of autonomous driving assistance features has become clear, and "design changes are necessary to ensure driver safety."

She further pressured Musk by saying, "If you seriously consider prioritizing safety in Tesla vehicle design, I request that you complete the actions regarding the safety recommendations delivered four years ago."