Tesla recalls 362,758 vehicles over crash concerns from self-driving mode

Tesla is recalling nearly 363,000 vehicles over concerns its full self-driving mode could cause crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced the recall on Thursday involving Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Ys equipped with the full self-driving beta program.

The announcement comes just days after The Dawn Project aired a Super Bowl commercial blasting the agency for its inaction, claiming Tesla’s full self-driving mode would run down a child in a school crosswalk.

“Why does NHTSA allow Tesla Full Self-Driving?” the ad said.

In its recall notice, the NHTSA said FSD Beta software “allows a vehicle to exceed speed limits or travel through intersections in an unlawful or unpredictable manner,” increasing the risk of a crash.

“The FSD Beta system may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution. In addition, the system may respond insufficiently to changes in posted speed limits or not adequately account for the driver’s adjustment of the vehicle’s speed to exceed posted speed limits,” the recall notice read.

The recall impacts the following models equipped with FSD software: 2016-2023 Model S, Model X, 2017-2023 Model 3, and 2020-2023 Model Y. Not all drivers have access to the beta program. It’s an option that can cost $15,000 up front and is made available to drivers who have a high driver-safety score. The program is in its beta stage and has faced similar safety concerns before.

As it has done with previous recalls, Tesla plans to release a free remote software update for impacted owners to fix the issue. Tesla CEO Elon Musk took issue with the word “recall” altogether, calling it “anachronistic and just flat wrong” in a tweet following the recall announcement.

Definitely. The word “recall” for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just flat wrong!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 16, 2023