(Reuters) – The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday it had opened an investigation into about 2.6 million Tesla (NASDAQ:) vehicles after reports of some crashes related to its “Actually Smart Summon” self-driving feature.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation said it received one complaint about a crash while using the feature and reviewed at least three media reports of similar crashes involving it.
All the crashes involved Tesla vehicles running in Actual Smart Summon mode and they failed to detect poles or parked vehicles, leading to the crashes, the regulator said.
“ODI is aware of numerous allegations of crashes, including Smart Summon and Real Smart Summon, where the user had too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with line of sight or releasing the app button on the phone, stopping the vehicle. movement,” he added.
In fact, the Smart Summon feature, introduced late last year, allows users to remotely move their car to their location or to another location using a smartphone app.
It is the road safety regulator’s second major investigation into Tesla in about four months related to its self-driving features.
In October, the regulator launched an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD) software after four reported collisions, including a fatal crash in 2023.
The increased focus on advanced driver assistance comes as CEO Elon Musk looks to move into self-driving and robotaxi technologies.