U.S. safety regulators apparently don't like Tesla's "rolling stop." The company is recalling almost 54,000 vehicles because its Full Self-Driving software allows cars to continue driving past stop signs, according to a report posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week.
If an affected model Tesla approaches an all-way stop on a road where the speed limit is 30 mph or below, while traveling below 5.6 mph, and it does not detect any other "relevant" cars, pedestrians or cyclists, then it will keep traveling through the intersection at low speeds without first coming to a complete stop. Tesla said there have been no known injuries, fatalities or crashes related to the functionality. Still, NHTSA said, the functionality can increase the risk of a crash.
The recall affects Model S sedans, X SUVs from 2016 through 2022, Model 3 sedans from 2017 to 2022 and 2020 through 2022 Model Y SUVs. The electric vehicle company said it will disable the rolling stop software in these vehicles, and owners can expect notification letters sometime after March 28, according to a letter from safety regulators on Monday.
This marks the second time since December that Tesla has recalled vehicles over safety concerns from U.S. safety regulators. In late December, the company recalled over 475,000 cars in the U.S. due to physical defects. U.S. safety regulators have also launched an investigation into Tesla's Passenger Play feature, which let drivers play games on the in-vehicle display, and during the summer the NHTSA began looking into the company's Autopilot.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE