Safety official says Tesla should address ‘basic safety issues’ before expanding full self-driving mode

The NTSB chair said Tesla’s use of the term “full self-driving” is “misleading and irresponsible.”

By Kim Lyons@SocialKimLy Sep 19, 2021, 10:24am EDT

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told the Wall Street Journal that Tesla should address “basic safety issues” before the carmaker expands its so-called “full self-driving” (FSD) mode.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this month that the company was aiming for a wider release of FSD by the end of September, making a “public beta button” available to more Tesla customers. As the WSJ reports, an upgrade to the software— which was designed primarily for driving on highways— is expected, in order to make the vehicles ready for driving on city streets.

Homendy had harsh words for Tesla’s use of the term “full self-driving,” which she called “misleading and irresponsible,” adding that Tesla “has clearly misled numerous people to misuse and abuse technology.” The NTSB can conduct investigations and make recommendations, but has no enforcement authority.

According to documents obtained by legal transparency group PlainSite in May, Tesla’s director of Autopilot software had told the California Department of Motor Vehicles that Musk overstated the capabilities of the company’s advanced driver assist system, a precursor to FSD.

In February 2020, the NTSB found Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance system was one of the possible causes in a fatal 2018 crash, stating that the driver, who was playing a mobile game while using Autopilot, was overly confident in Autopilot’s capabilities.

-snip-