Elon Musk has promised a larger rollout of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Program for several months. Just a few days after Musk's latest tweet, U.S. authorities have asked Tesla to slow down its rollout.
The National Transportation Safety Board is a federal agency that investigates all types of vehicle accidents and safety. It would like Tesla not to launch FSD wider, citing safety concerns. Although the agency does not have the authority to issue such an order, its publicly shared recommendation is still very significant.
Jennifer Homendy, NTSB head, stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that "basic safety issues must be addressed before theyre expanding it to other cities streets" She said that Tesla's "Full Self-Driving” branding "has clearly misled many people to misuse or abuse technology."
Homendy is critical of Tesla's name for its feature. It's a marketing term that gives the impression that FSD is completely in control of the car. The driver-assistance feature is dependent on a responsible, attentive driver behind the wheel.
These guidelines are what Tesla expects from its customers. FSD and Autopilot are the standard features included in all Tesla cars. A support page states that they "are designed for use with fully attentive drivers who have their hands on the wheel and are ready to take control at any time."
These features are powered by machine-learning and are designed to become smarter as Tesla's fleet spends more time on roads. Tesla's support page clearly states that the features currently enabled do not render the vehicle autonomous.
Homendy argues that customers don't see a support page on the homepage. Instead, customers are being given feature names such as "Autopilot" or "Full Self-Driving," that, according to the NTSB, give a false impression about any Tesla's driver assistance capabilities.
Although the FSD feature isn't yet widely available, it's currently in beta with a small number of drivers. Musk stated on Friday that beta would be available in a week and that Tesla drivers who sign up for the program will have their driving habits monitored for a week before being approved or denied.
This rollout might have to be delayed due to the NTSB recommendation, and growing state interest in Tesla's plans.
