Recall Affects Over 360,000 Tesla Cars with ‘Full Self-Driving’ Software

Months after California banned Tesla from using the term ‘full self-driving’ or FSD, citing safety concerns, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) directed the company to recall 362,758 vehicles equipped with the software. Richard Lawler reports on the story for The Verge.

Documents filed regarding the recall (included below) don’t call out specific incidents, but NHTSA’s concerns are listed as focusing on four specific situations that can happen on the road, like navigating intersections during a “stale” yellow light, how long cars stop at a stop sign when the intersection is clear, how they adjust speed while driving in areas where the speed limit is changing based on road signs the car detects and settings put in place by the driver, and how the cars change lanes to get out of a turn-only lane.

While FSD requires the driver to “stay fully engaged” in its operation, “FSD-equipped Tesla vehicles will speed up and slow down on their own, make turns — including unprotected left turns, which are extremely difficult for automated systems — and recognizes traffic signals and other road signs.”

Tesla says it will implement a software update to address the NHTSA’s concerns, which won’t require car owners to bring the cars to a dealership. In addition to the recall, “NHTSA has been investigating Tesla’s driver-assist technology for several years, focusing specifically over a dozen incidents in which Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot crashed into stationary emergency vehicles. That investigation is much more expansive, covering up to 830,000 vehicles.”