Regulators Force Tesla to Recall 54,000 Vehicles Because They Are Programmed to Break the Law

In a few short years, Tesla has gone from almost bankrupt to the most theoretically valuable carmaker in the world. A significant component of its sky-high value is its increasingly capable Autopilot system. This system can travel roadways with minimal driver involvement. Tesla has been testing an even more robust version of the feature called “Full Self-Driving” that can navigate autonomously from point A to point B, but government regulators recently forced Tesla to make a change. It turns out the company programmed cars to break the law by rolling through stop signs. As a result, Ars Technica reports that Tesla will recall 53,822 cars.

Tesla’s driver-assist features are confusingly named, to say the least. While names like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving evoke images of napping in the backseat, Tesla’s self-driving features are still SAE Level 2. That means you need to be aware and ready to take over the wheel at all times. At level 3, you no longer need to watch the road, and at level 4, the car is designed to handle all road conditions without driver interaction. That describes Google’s Waymo prototype vehicles, which have enormous sensor packages that Tesla vehicles don’t.

When Tesla’s self-driving mode is in the news, it’s usually because someone overestimated its capabilities and paid the price. Yet, Tesla has been moving forward aggressively with self-driving technology, a trend that has brought it into conflict with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In late 2021, Tesla rolled out a new update for its Full Self-Driving beta, which included customizable driving modes: chill, average, and assertive. They’re not kidding about that last one.

I guess "Road Rage Mode" didn't fit on the screen pic.twitter.com/6pJNFvrJXA

— David Zipper (@DavidZipper) January 9, 2022

In assertive mode, the car will perform a so-called “rolling stop” under certain circumstances, which is illegal. It’s not hugely illegal — no doubt you’ve rolled through a stop sign or two in your time. Still, someone at Tesla actually programmed the cars to break the law. When the vehicle approaches a four-way stop at less than 5.6 mph (9 km/h), it will just roll through at that same speed, provided there’s no one else at the intersection. That raises the question: if your car breaks the law, who gets the ticket? Can you just mail it to Elon?

The automaker met with the NHTSA twice last month to discuss its Full Self-Driving beta. Following the second meeting, Tesla announced it would recall 53,822 cars across the Model 3, Y, S, and X product lines. Tesla isn’t buying the cars back, of course. To satisfy the feds, Tesla must remove the rolling stop feature, which was added in firmware version 2020.40.4.10. The 2021.44.30.15 update without rolling stops should begin rolling out early this month.

NHTSA investigators must be getting very familiar with Tesla by now. The agency is still investigating the spate of Teslas crashing into emergency vehicles in Autopilot mode, and it previously forced Tesla to turn off the “Passenger Play” feature that allowed passengers to play games on the screen while the vehicle was moving.

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