US investigating Tesla recall of 2M+ vehicles over Autopilot safeguards

The Department of Transportation is investigating last year’s Tesla recall involving more than 2 million vehicles to determine whether updates to their Autopilot driving systems did enough to keep drivers focused on the road.  

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in documents posted online Friday that additional crashes since the recall have raised concerns.

Last December’s recall was applicable to all Tesla models that have its driver assistance system. Affected vehicles included Tesla’s Cybertruck, Model 3, Model S, Model X and Model Y cars, the NHTSA noted.

The agency had urged Tesla to conduct the recall after a two-year investigation into the company’s Autopilot system. When Tesla described the safety defect, it said the “prominence and scope of the system’s controls may be insufficient to prevent driver misuse.”

The NHTSA said Friday the original investigation into the Autopilot system was opened to see if the system contained a defect that “created an unreasonable risk” to vehicle safety, adding that it found similar findings with Tesla’s voluntary recall.

The initial investigation found at least 13 crashes involving one or more fatalities, many more involving serious injuries, in which “foreseeable driver misuse played an apparent role,” the NHTSA said.

Tesla has reported 20 crashes that happened after an online software update to increase warnings, such as reminding drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel, was sent to drivers using the Autopilot system, The Associated Press reported.

The NHTSA on Friday noted that drivers can opt in to parts of the recall remedy and can reverse other parts of it.

The Hill has reached out to Tesla for comment.