Tesla recalls 2 million vehicles over Autopilot issue

U.S. safety regulators published a set of documents on Wednesday detailing Tesla’s plans to fix an issue with its Autopilot function. The system helps drivers stay in their lane, brake, and accelerate—but doesn’t fully drive the vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration questions whether enough controls are in place to prevent drivers from misusing Autopilot. In response, Tesla recalled over 2 million vehicles and issued a software update. The update contains additional controls and alerts to keep the driver engaged, and it also limits the use of the Autosteer function.

Why did the company recall the vehicles? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently finished a two-year investigation before the recall. The administration looked into crashes that occurred while the Autopilot was in use, and it found that the way Autopilot would remind drivers to pay attention was often ineffective. The documents say that Tesla did not agree with the administration’s analysis but agreed to the recall to resolve the investigation.

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