Tesla recalling more than 350,000 self-driving vehicles over crash fears

The recall notice says vehicles may “act unsafe around intersections” and have problems with speed limit changes

Tesla is recalling 362,758 electric vehicles with its experimental Full Self-Driving Beta package amid fears the driver-assistance software could cause crashes.

According to a recall notice posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the FSD Beta system may cause the vehicles to crash by allowing them to “act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution.”

The notice also states that the vehicles may have problems responding to “changes in posted speed limits.”

Elon Musk’s company has allowed thousands of Tesla owners who have the package to try out its unfinished Beta version of Full Self-Driving on roads around the US.

FSD now costs Tesla owners in the US either $15,000 or $199 per month to have in their vehicle.

The FSD Beta is a work in progress for the electric vehicle company and gives drivers an “autosteer on city streets” option that allows the car to navigate itself in the same way it already does on freeways.

Tesla will fix the issues with a free over-the-air software update to all of the impacted vehicles, the recall notice states.

The recall comes as labour organisers claim that dozens of employees at a company factory in Buffalo, New York, were fired after launching an unionising campaign.

In a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board, Workers United alleged Tesla fired more than 30 workers from its Autopilot unit in retaliation for the union activity.

The workers were involved in the labelling of videos from Tesla vehicles to improve the Autopilot and Full Self Driving systems.

The Dawn Project, which opposes Tesla’s FSD system and ran a Super Bowl advert against the company on Sunday, welcomed the recall.

“The Dawn Project is pleased that NHTSA has finally taken action over Tesla Full Self-Driving’s critical safety defects, said founder Dan O’Dowd in a statement.

“The Dawn Project’s Super Bowl ad revealed the critical safety defects in Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software to millions of Americans. We called on regulators to intervene to urgently recall Tesla’s dangerous and defective Full Self-Driving software.

“NHTSA’s actions represent an important first step in ensuring our roads are kept safe from Tesla Full Self-Driving. NHTSA must now act swiftly to force Tesla to prove it has fixed the critical safety defects we identified in its Full Self-Driving software before it is permitted on our roads.

“Tesla Full Self-Driving is unsafe for public roads, and Elon Musk’s decision to use the American public as crash test dummies has exposed millions of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to potentially fatal danger.”