Tesla’s ‘phantom braking’ problem is getting worse, and the US government has questions - The Verge

The US government says it has received over 750 complaints of unexpected braking from Tesla owners, a steep rise from the number reported earlier this year.

When last we checked in with Tesla’s “phantom braking” problem, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had received 350 complaints from owners who said their vehicles were braking for no reason. Now that number stands at 758, and the US government has some questions.

On May 4th, NHTSA fired off a 14-page “request for information” letter to Tesla about these incidents, including a request for all consumer and field reports it has received about false braking, as well as reports of crashes, injuries, deaths, and property damage claims.

NHTSA also wants to know whether Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system was active during any of these incidents. Tesla has until June 20, 2022, to comply with the request, though it can seek an extension if it wants. (The letter was first reported by the Associated Press.)

Reports of “phantom braking” first surfaced last fall, when Tesla was forced to roll back version 10.3 of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta software, the company’s advanced driver assist system, because of issues with forward collision warnings and unexpected braking.

But after the rollback, the number of complaints actually increased substantially, with NHTSA receiving at least 107 from November to January, compared with only 34 in the preceding 22 months, according to The Washington Post. In February, NHTSA began investigating incidents involving Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles after receiving 354 complaints.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/3/23153241/tesla-phantom-braking-nhtsa-complaints-investigation

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