The US authorities are investigating the existence of a hidden configuration in the vehicles of Tesla that allows drivers to use their Autopilot and Full-Self-Driving (FSD) systems without triggering the hands-on-wheel warning.
Documents published in the last few hours by the National Highway Safety Administration of the United States (Nhtsa) reveal that in July of this year the federal authorities requested the director of Tesla’s legal department, Dinna Eskin, all documents relevant to Autopilot .
In the letter sent to Eskin, the Nhtsa said it must receive the documents required in the special order by August 25. Failure to do so would result in Tesla being penalized with fines of up to $26,315 a day.
Neither Nhtsa nor Tesla have disclosed whether the company has complied with the order from federal authorities.
The Nhtsa stated that “recently” learned that Tesla had released a configuration of the Autopilot and FSD driving assistance systems that “Allows drivers to operate their vehicles for extended periods without being prompted by Autopilot to apply force to the steering wheel.”
“This feature was introduced in consumer vehicles and now that its existence is known to the public more drivers may try to activate it.”, added the US federal department, which said it was concerned about it.
The existence of the secret configuration of Autopilot and FSD, colloquially called “elon mode” in reference to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, was revealed in June this year by a “hacker” known on social media as @greentheonly.
Federal authorities oblige car manufacturers equipped with driving assistance systems such as Autopilot to install mechanisms in their vehicles to ensure that drivers keep their hands on the wheel at all times to avoid accidents.
Although no automaker has driving assistance systems that are capable of steering vehicles without any interaction with the driver, Tesla and Musk have been suggesting for years that Autopilot and FSD is an autonomous driving system.
Source: EFE
Source: Gestion
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