Tesla vehicles equipped with Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems experienced widespread 'phantom braking' incidents where cars suddenly stopped on roadways for no apparent reason, prompting over 750 complaints to federal safety regulators.
Tesla vehicles have been experiencing a significant increase in 'phantom braking' incidents where the cars suddenly apply brakes for no apparent reason while using Autopilot or Full Self-Driving (FSD) features. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received over 750 complaints from Tesla owners about these incidents in recent months, compared to only 34 complaints in the preceding 22 months. The problem appears to have worsened after Tesla transitioned to a camera-only 'Tesla Vision' system in May 2021, removing radar sensors from Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Owners reported incidents occurring at highway speeds, often triggered by false detection of obstacles like oncoming trucks, plastic bags, or shadows. Many complained of near rear-end collisions due to the sudden braking. The incidents affected Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from 2021-2022 model years, covering an estimated 416,000 vehicles. Tesla was forced to recall version 10.3 of its FSD software in October 2021 due to phantom braking issues, but complaints have remained elevated. NHTSA opened a formal investigation in February 2022 and has requested detailed information from Tesla about the incidents, including technical data about the automated systems and any modifications made to address the problem.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that fail to perform reliably or effectively under varying conditions, exposing them to errors and failures that can have significant consequences, especially in critical applications or areas that require moral reasoning.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed