Issues
Congress demands answers after safety regulator misses deadline on potentially lifesaving new rules for vehicle seats
By Kris Van Cleave January 17, 2024 The nation’s top auto safety regulator was given two years by order of Congress to make vehicle seats stronger, following a multi-year CBS News investigation. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, missed the deadline. Now, 10 U.S. senators are demanding answers. “I’m going to turn up…
Fred Perkins’ 2024 New Years Resolutions
Engineering Resolutions 2024 NHTSA Vehicle adaptive speed control with speed limit exceedance warnings and speed limiters Automatic mitigation of drunk, inattentive, reckless, or otherwise dangerous driving behavior FMVSS for protection from animals, children, and incapacitated people and animals in overheated cars. Objective safety standard or type approval process for ADAS and AV operations on public…
Tesla Autopilot Recall Threatens Its Defense in Lawsuits Over Crashes
The company’s acknowledgment in the notice that safeguards around its Autosteer feature “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse” amounts to an admission of a safety defect, said Michael Brooks, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety. By Malathi Nayak December 15, 2023 Tesla Inc.’s biggest vehicle recall ever threatens to hurt the…
Tesla issues massive recall involving autopilot feature
“There are too many drivers that are over-relying on the Tesla technology.” – Michael Brooks, Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety. By Tom Costello and NBC Nightly News December 13, 2023 After a series of accidents involving Tesla’s autopilot feature, the company issued a recall for nearly every Tesla in America. The company…
Tesla Critics Say the Autopilot Recall Fixes Don’t Go Far Enough
“…There don’t appear to be any answers or fixes relating to the system’s repeated failures to detect and respond to emergency personnel and other related hazards.” By Keith Laing December 14, 2023 Tesla Inc.’s decision to fix more than 2 million vehicles’ Autopilot systems in the midst of federal probes drew some praise from safety…
Tesla recalls nearly all U.S. vehicles to fix system that monitors drivers using Autopilot after investigation into deadly crashes
Koopman and Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, contend that crashing into emergency vehicles is a safety defect that isn’t addressed. “It’s not digging at the root of what the investigation is looking at,” Brooks said. “It’s not answering the question of why are Teslas on Autopilot not detecting and…
Pedestrians, already dying at record levels, now face Elon Musk’s Cybertruck
“Just like Elon says — If you have an argument with another car, you will win — so long as ‘winning’ means inflicting life-threatening damage to other humans on the road,” Brooks said. By Mike Gagliardi December 13, 2023 As vehicles get bigger and heavier, they also get deadlier. It’s a trend that has some concerned…
Austin Tesla owners start getting Autopilot recall updates
“They are drilling down on exactly where and under what conditions the technology can be used. Only on controlled-access highways like interstates and some of the larger highways in America,” said Michael Brooks, Executive Director of the Center for Auto Safety. By Bettie Cross December 13, 2023 Tesla is recalling nearly all vehicles sold in…
Tesla recalls most of its US fleet after self-driving recall
Micheal Brooks of the Center for Auto Safety said the autopilot feature can be misleading. “Despite some of the marketing that Tesla’s done, these cars are not self-driving; they’re not anywhere close, and you have to, as a driver, monitor the situation at all times.” By Marz Anderson December 13, 2023 Many Michiganders have gone…
Tesla Recalls 2 Million Vehicles—Nearly Every Car They’ve Sold in the U.S.
Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, told the Associated Press, “It’s not digging at the root of what the investigation is looking at. It’s not answering the question of why are Teslas on Autopilot not detecting and responding to emergency activity?” By Devon Forward December 13, 2023 Tesla just announced a huge recall of more…