Tesla’s “ghost brakes” have complained again, and if they don’t respond to the investigation in a timely manner, they may face hundreds of millions of dollars in fines
The car was driving normally on the road, but the car with the system driving system suddenly applied the brakes for no reason. These dangerous scenes are the "horror moments" that many Tesla owners have personally experienced. Some people call this phenomenon "ghost braking", while others call it "phantom braking".
▲ Picture from: Unsplash
Whatever the name, the anomaly has many Tesla owners worried. However, in May of this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it received 758 complaints about Tesla's "ghost brakes."
▲ Picture from: AutoEvolution
As a result, NHTSA sent a 14-page letter to Tesla for a "request for information" about these incidents. Requests include all consumer and field reports of faulty braking, as well as reports of collision, injury, death, and property damage claims. There's also whether Tesla's Full Self-Driving system and automatic emergency braking system were active at the time of these crashes.
In addition, NHTSA's letter also asked Tesla to provide the initial speed, final speed and average deceleration when the car began to brake. It also asked if the automated system detected a target obstacle, and if the Tesla had video of the braking event.
▲ Picture from: NHTSA
The NHTSA's "request for information" focused on Tesla's testing of automated systems in detecting metal bridges, S-curves, oncoming and cross-traffic, and vehicles of different sizes, including large trucks. It also wants to know how the camera handles reflections, shadows, glare and occlusions caused by snow or heavy rain…
In fact, in February of this year, NHTSA said it had received hundreds of complaints from Tesla owners about unprovoked braking. Subsequently, NHTSA began an investigation of 416,000 Tesla vehicles, covering all Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles introduced in 2021 and 2022.
▲ Picture from: NotebookCheck
Using the driver assistance system, the vehicle may brake suddenly due to misjudgment of the road conditions, which not only interferes with the driving experience, but also has a serious impact on other vehicles on the road, and is prone to rear-end collisions, posing a threat to driving safety.
Such an unsafe situation may be related to some of Tesla's changes in 2021. Musk said at the time that he wanted a camera-only driver assistance system, so he removed the radar sensor used by the Autopilot system on the new Model 3 and Model Y.
▲ Picture from: Unsplash
NHTSA requires Tesla to respond to "requests for information" by June 20, but the company can ask for an extension, and if it doesn't respond in a timely manner, Tesla could face a fine of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Not only the "ghost brakes", but Tesla has also recalled over the past two years due to heating failures, screen touch issues, FSD software, and more. There are thousands of roads, and safety is the first priority. Hopefully, Tesla will have a survey result that will satisfy owners, so that people sitting in Teslas don't have to worry about these issues on the road.
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