Tesla Full Self-Driving Being Closely Monitored by US Regulator

It doesn’t take autonomous software for a driver to make unsafe decisions, but the margin of error is far too small to take any real risks.

For that very reason, the US auto safety regulator said on Thursday that it was carefully monitoring the release of Tesla’s full self-driving software, as reported by Yahoo Finance, adding that it was ready to protect US communities against any safety risks the update might pose.

Tesla’s full self-driving beta software upgrade was released to a number of “expert, careful” drivers on Wednesday night, explaining the cause for concern. CEO Elon Musk has also stated that the software would be ready for a wide release by the end of this year.

In a statement, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said, “NHTSA has been briefed on Tesla’s new feature, which represents an expansion of its existing driver assistance system.” The organization continued, “The agency will monitor the new technology closely and will not hesitate to take action to protect (the) public against unreasonable risks to safety.”

Only time will tell how safe the full self-driving features are, and until the software proves itself, drivers would be right to remain a little on edge.