The federal government opened an investigation into a driverless feature found in millions of vehicles and recently profiled in a News4 I-Team consumer investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said.
The probe will look at crashes involving the Tesla app that allows drivers to remotely move their vehicles using their phone without being in the car.
Consumer Investigative Reporter Susan Hogan and the I-Team broke the story in October after hearing from a Maryland woman who said a car without a driver crashed into her vehicle in a parking lot.
Now, NHTSA will investigate any connections between crashes and the high-tech app Smart Summon — and a newer version launched in September, Actually Smart Summon — which are supposed to summon vehicles to drivers without anyone in the car. It is in more than 2 million Teslas.
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“They're releasing them too early, before they've been, you know, validated as safe, before they've been validated to work properly," said Michael Brooks of the Center for Auto Safety, who spoke to the I-Team last year after hearing from Tamara Meyer, who said a driver using an earlier version of the App hit her car.
“I saw no one in the car,” she said. “There was no driver, no passenger. It was an empty car that was driving itself into my car."
The I-Team visited the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety last year to see how the Smart Summon app is supposed to work and saw mixed results with the driverless car turning into a curb and almost hitting other vehicles.
NHTSA says it launched an investigation after media reports and a crash complaint to the Office of Defects Investigation where four cars using the feature allegedly crashed after failing to detect posts or parked vehicles.
The agency added, "ODI is aware of multiple crash allegations, involving both Smart Summon and Actually Smart Summon, where the user had too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement."
NHTSA said it plans to investigate how fast a vehicle can go when using the Actually Smart Summon app, use on public roads and any line-of-sight requirements.
On its website, Tesla says the features are only meant to be used in parking lots and driveways on private property and that the operator must always have a clear line of sight to monitor the vehicle.
NHTSA said Tesla has not reported any Smart Summon or Actually Smart Summon crashes through the Standing General Order for crashes involving ADS or Level 2 ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems including features like Summons or cruise control), which requires reporting of crashes on publicly accessible roads.
The I-Team reached out to Tesla about the probe but did not receive a response.
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