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NHTSA sent Tesla cease-and-desist over Model 3 safety claims
Documents obtained by nonprofit advocacy group PlainSite show that the United States National Highway Traffic Administration sent automaker Tesla a cease-and-desist letter urging the company to stop making certain claims about the safety of the Model 3. The agency also subpoenaed Tesla in order to obtain information regarding a number of crashes involving the company's cars.
US issues final rules halting increase of fuel efficiency penalties
The Trump administration isn't deterred by legal attempts to preserve a once-planned increase in fuel efficiency penalties. The NHTSA has issued final rules freezing the fine at $5.50 for every tenth of a mile per gallon a new vehicle consumes above required standards, halting an Obama-era plan that would have gradually raised the penalty to $14. The NHTSA said it was just following Congress' desire to ensure the rate stayed at the statute's requirement.
California sues EPA, NHTSA over data used for car emissions rollback
California has sued the EPA and NHTSA in a bid to get the data used to justify the Trump administration's rollback of vehicle emission standards. State Attorney General Xavier Becerra has accused the agencies of "willfully withholding" the data after they didn't respond to a Freedom of Information Act request for the material used to justify keeping 2020 emissions standards until the 2026 model year instead of raising them under former President Obama's plan.
US agencies investigate fatal Tesla Model 3 crash in Florida
American safety officials are looking into the circumstances surrounding another fatal Tesla crash. Both the NTSB and the NHTSA have confirmed that they're investigating a collision between a Model 3 and a semi truck in Delray Beach, Florida on March 1st. According to the police report, the truck was turning left to enter a main thoroughfare when the Model 3 crashed into the semi's trailer, shearing off the car's roof and killing the driver. It's not certain if Autopilot was active, although the Model 3 kept traveling for more than 500 yards before coming to a stop.
Uber hires an NHTSA veteran to bolster its self-driving car plans
Uber has hired a former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) official to join its autonomous vehicle team, Reuters reports. Nat Beuse will be joining the company after serving as the NHTSA's associate administrator of vehicle safety research, and he's doing so at a critical time when Uber is working to mend its safety image following a fatal crash involving one of its self-driving cars. "Uber's approach to self-driving vehicles is an opportunity to make a difference in the safe commercialization of this revolutionary technology, which I've spent a considerable amount of time working with in recent years," Beuse said in a statement. "It's clear to me that the team here is dedicated to prioritizing safety."
US DOT tells self-driving shuttle company to stop transporting kids
Sorry kids, neither you nor robots can be trusted. The US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has told Transdev North America to stop hauling children around in its EZ10 Generation II autonomous shuttles in Babcock Ranch -- a community in Southwest Florida.
US Department of Transportation updates autonomous car rules
The US Department of Transportation has released its latest set of voluntary guidelines for automated driving systems, a report that builds on previous versions released over the past two years. With Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0, the DOT outlines additional safety principles, updates policy and offers guidance to state and local governments. "The integration of automation across our transportation system has the potential to increase productivity and facilitate freight movement," said DOT Secretary Elaine Chao. "But most importantly, automation has the potential to impact safety significantly -- by reducing crashes caused by human error, including crashes involving impaired or distracted drivers, and saving lives.
NHTSA study forecasts dangerous rise in world temperatures by 2100
The Trump administration has accepted the scientific consensus of human-made global warming. However, it's not being used to push for tougher environmental regulations -- just the opposite, in fact. In a draft NHTSA environmental impact statement for Trump's proposed fuel standards freeze, the agency predicts that the worldwide temperature will increase about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (4 Celsius) over pre-industrial levels by 2100. Rather than use that as an incentive to push for more drastic cuts in emissions, though, the report claims that there's not much point. It's allegedly "not currently technologically feasible or economically feasible" to move enough people to clean transportation to make a difference, the NHTSA argued, so why bother with tougher rules?
Tesla Model 3 receives a perfect safety rating from NHTSA
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has given the Tesla Model 3 five-star ratings in every single category. That includes the overall front, overall side, side barrier, side pole and rollover categories. The vehicle follows in the footsteps of Tesla's Model S and Model X, both of which received five-star ratings in the past as well.
Trump proposal would end California's tougher car emission standards
It's no secret that the Trump administration is bristling at the Clean Air Act waiver that lets California apply stricter car emissions standards -- the state effectively determines the standards for the rest of the country, negating any federal attempts at rolling back anti-pollution efforts. And the administration has apparently had enough. Bloomberg sources have learned of an imminent proposed standards revision that would strip California of its extra authority. The EPA would suggest revoking California's waiver, while the NHTSA would maintain that California isn't allowed to regulate emissions under the law that established federal-level fuel efficiency requirements.
US regulator blocks sales of device that fools Tesla's Autopilot
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has demanded that the company behind a gadget called the Autopilot Buddy stops selling the device in the US. The gizmo makes Tesla's Autopilot think a driver has their hands on the steering wheel, and stops the system from urging drivers to put them there. Autopilot only works when a driver's hands are in the correct place and apply some pressure.
Tesla's key safety representative leaves for Waymo
Tesla's executive team isn't done with turmoil following the loss of its Autopilot chief and its engineering lead's sabbatical. The electric car maker's "primary technical contact" with American safety regulators, Matthew Schwall, has left the company to join Waymo. The Alphabet-owned firm didn't specify his role, but a Wall Street Journal source said he would tackle a "variety" of self-driving safety issues.
NHTSA proposal would override California's tougher emissions rules
The Trump administration hasn't been shy about wanting to roll back emissions and fuel economy guidelines, but there's been a key obstacle to that: California. It has a waiver permitting it to apply tougher emissions standards, and that (combined with support from 12 other states) effectively dictates the rules for automakers across the US. Officials may soon force California to honor looser federal standards, however. The Wall Street Journal has learned of an NHTSA proposal that would not only freeze increases on fuel emissions standards between 2020 and 2026, but would include "scenarios" that would let it override or even eliminate California's authority to maintain its own increases.
Car makers ask US officials to loosen fuel economy requirements
It's no secret that automakers believe the US' recently-instituted fuel efficiency requirements are too stringent, but now they've made those views official. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which includes companies like GM, Toyota and VW, has made official comments to both the EPA and NHTSA asking the regulators to loosen Obama-era rules intended to raise a fleet's average fuel economy to 51.4MPG by 2025. They don't object to the targets as such -- rather, they don't like the projected costs of reaching those targets.
Tesla Model X earns a perfect NHTSA safety rating
Tesla has yet another achievement to crow about. On Tuesday, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its assessment of the company's Model X SUV and awarded it the agencies highest possible rating: 5 stars across every test category. That makes the Model X the safest SUV on the road today. US govt testing by @NHTSAgov finds Model X to be the safest SUV in history by significant margin https://t.co/zAdb5FQPEI — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 13, 2017 Every Model X variant -- the 60D, 75D, 90D, P90D and 100D -- all scored perfectly in front impact, side impact, rollover and overall safety. In fact, the NHTSA was unable to even tip one over during its dynamic test and gave the Model X only a 9.30 percent chance of rolling over during an accident. The company credits its electric drivetrain and power system, as well as the vehicle's low center of gravity thanks to its battery packs being located under the cabin floor, for its impressive rollover resistance. "Of all the cars NHTSA has ever tested, Model X's overall probability of injury was second only to Model S," the company wrote in its press release.
Investigation clears Tesla for fatal Autopilot crash
Last May a Tesla Model S ran into a tractor trailer in Florida while in Autopilot mode. The collision resulted in the death of the driver Joshua Brown and prompted an investigation by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). Today that government agency concluded its investigation and found no defects with the vehicle's Autopilot or Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) features.
Apple letter offers a clue to its self-driving car plans
Apple's hopes of developing self-driving car technology have been a poorly kept secret for a while, and now it's coming clean. The company has sent a letter to the US' National Highway Traffic Safety Administration acknowledging that the company is "excited" about automation in numerous fields, "including transportation." It wants to test self-driving car tech, and it's hoping to address both ethical and regulatory issues. It believes the industry should share crash (and near-crash) data to improve safety, for example, but this "should not come at the cost of privacy."
US proposes a phone 'driver mode' to reduce in-car distractions
Smartphones already have car-optimized interfaces like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and you'll occasionally see safety measures that shut off features (and enable others) while you're driving. However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants to do better. It's proposing voluntary guidelines that would both encourage phone makers to both include pairing with infotainment systems (much like Android Auto and CarPlay) and, crucially, a "driving mode" that cuts back on distractions. It would have a simpler interface that minimizes the time you spend looking away from the road, and either disables or downplays features that you don't need while on the move.
Geohot cancels his self-driving add-on amid legal scrutiny
George "Geohot" Hotz, PlayStation and iPhone hacker extraordinaire, has canceled production on Comma One, a $1,000 aftermarket add-on that he said would allow some cars to operate semi-autonomously. He claimed the tech was "about on par" with Tesla's Autopilot and it used cars' video feeds to navigate the roads. It was due to start rolling out at the end of this year. But, after receiving a special order from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today, Geohot decided Comma One wasn't worth the paperwork.
NHTSA advice aims to keep connected cars safe from hackers
Following a smattering of recent high-profile attacks, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is taking a hard look at vehicular cybersecurity. In a 22-page document (PDF), the NHTSA outlines its voluntary best practices for automakers going forward. Chief among the guidelines is using a layered approach to security, so that even in the event of a successful attack that "vehicle systems take appropriate and safe actions." Meaning, a car's computer shouldn't put the driver at risk just to fend off an intruder.
