Tesla will recall 2 million vehicles!

Tesla is recalling almost all of the vehicles it sells in the United States to fix a flaw in the system that is supposed to keep drivers paying attention when using autopilot. Documents released by the US highway safety administration on Wednesday said the company would send a software update to fix the problems. The recall follows a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into a series of accidents that occurred while the partially automated driving system was in use.

The agency says the investigation found that the autopilot's method of getting drivers to pay attention may be inadequate and could lead to foreseeable misuse of the system. The recall covers Y, S, 3 and X models manufactured between October 5, 2012 and December 7 of this year. Automaneuver and Traffic Sensitive Cruise Control The software update includes additional controls and warnings "to further encourage the driver to comply with the responsibility of continuous driving," the documents said.

The update will be sent to some affected vehicles on Tuesday, while the rest will receive it at a later date. Autopilot includes features called Automaneuver and Traffic Sensitive Cruise Control and is designed to be used on limited-access highways when it is not working with a more sophisticated feature called "Automaneuver, Urban Automaneuver".

The software update is thought to limit where the automaneuver can be used. "If the driver attempts to engage the autoreverse before the conditions for engagement are met, the feature will warn the driver with visual and audible warnings that the system is unavailable and the autoreverse will not engage," the recall documents said.

Depending on Tesla's hardware, the added controls include "increasing the prominence" of visual warnings, simplifying the switching on and off of automaneuver, additional checks on whether automaneuver is being used outside of controlled access roads and when approaching traffic control devices, and "eventual suspension of automaneuver use if the driver does not demonstrate continued driving responsibility." Tesla disagreed with the analysis but agreed to the recall The recall documents say agency investigators met with Tesla starting in October and announced "tentative conclusions" on fixing the tracking system. Tesla disagreed with the agency's analysis but agreed to the recall on December 5 in an effort to resolve the investigation.

For years, auto safety advocates have called for stronger regulation of the driver monitoring system, which essentially detects whether a driver's hands are on the steering wheel. They have called for the use of cameras used by other automakers with similar systems to make sure the driver is paying attention. Autopilot is a driver assistance system that can automatically steer, accelerate and brake the car in its lane, but it is not completely self-driving. Independent tests have shown that the monitoring system is easy to fool and some drivers have been caught drinking and driving and even sitting in the back seat.

Tesla said in its defect report to the safety agency that the autopilot's controls "may not be sufficient to prevent driver abuse." NHTSA has sent investigators to 35 Tesla crashes since 2016 because it suspected the vehicles were operating with the automated system. At least 17 people have died in these accidents.