By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Transportation Department said he would allow an ongoing government probe into Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system to continue.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in October opened an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD) software after four reported collisions, including a fatal 2023 crash. “I will let NHTSA do their investigation,” former lawmaker Sean Duffy said at a U.S. Senate hearing. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a close adviser to Trump, who has previously criticized NHTSA’s regulatory efforts.
“Regardless of outside political pressure, can you commit to allowing (NHTSA) to follow the evidence and operate objectively?” Senator Ed Markey asked Duffy.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, NHTSA opened a separate probe into 2.6 million Tesla vehicles over reports of crashes involving a feature that allows users to move their cars remotely. NHTSA said it is opening a preliminary evaluation into Tesla’s Actually Smart Summon feature over reports of four crashes involving Tesla vehicles.
The vehicles failed to detect posts, or parked vehicles, when they were operating on Actually Smart Summon, NHTSA said, adding it had reports where users “had too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement.”
Tesla in December 2023 recalled more than two million U.S. vehicles to install new safeguards in its Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system. The agency is still probing whether that recall is adequate to address concerns drivers are not paying attention.
The scrutiny of the advanced driver-assistance system comes as Musk looks to pivot towards self-driving technology and robotaxis.
Duffy also said he would review the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed $633,000 fine on Musk’s SpaceX, after the agency said it violated launch license requirements.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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