In a letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent on Monday, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) head called on Tesla to fulfill past recommendations in which Tesla was asked to limit where the company’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving system can operate, according to MarketWatch.
The letter also asked Tesla to put more parameters in place to ensure drivers are paying attention to the road while using the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS).
In the letter, the NTSB also noted that the original recommendations were made four years ago, and NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy also emphasized how the company’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) beta rollout undermines Tesla’s claims of safety as a priority by the systems both being tested on public roads.
Tesla Driver Floored Accelerator Pedal Nearly All the Way, Leading Up to Fatal Crash: NTSB https://t.co/VyoNYHxy4f
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) October 21, 2021
In a statement, Homendy said that Tesla was letting users test the systems “without first addressing the very design shortcomings.”
Homendy continued, “If you are serious about putting safety front and center in Tesla vehicle design, I invite you to complete action on the safety recommendations we issued to you four years ago.”
Over the weekend, Tesla reverted its FSD beta 10.3 back to 10.2, after users cited safety issues and certain warnings failing. In less than 24 hours later, Tesla released an update to bring back FSD beta to testers.
Despite the NTSB’s suggestions, the agency is specifically dedicated to investigating crashes, though it has no regulatory power like the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), who just received a partial response from Tesla in an investigation opened into Autopilot in August.
