Tesla is voluntarily recalling over 360,000 vehicles Thursday after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found the vehicle's "Full Self-Driving" beta dangerous. Automotive expert and founder of Car Coach Reports Lauren Fix told Scripps News this recall is not surprising.
"The truth is there is no such thing as full self-driving," she said. "They've been selling it as autopilot from day one. But if you talk to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, they will tell you there is no such thing."
The NHTSA report found the self-driving feature "may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections," potentially not coming to a complete stop, and the Teslas could run through a yellow light, instead of proceeding with caution. There are also possible issues in responding to posted speed limits.
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"Even with some of these great safety features on all vehicles, you cannot rely on the vehicle to make the decisions that you need to make," Fix said. "It's your responsibility behind the wheel. And this is one thing that they're mandating rather than waiting on Tesla to make the recall."
This recall is the biggest action taken yet against the automaker.
"He's an inventor. He's an entrepreneur. His idea is to get product to market. When he over promises and under delivers, he has to make a correction to that," Fix said of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. "And the federal government is going to put the hammer down on him and they're going to be much more aggressive these days than they have been in the past."
Tesla disputed some of the NHTSA findings. Musk was quick to comment on Twitter, saying "The word 'recall' for an over-the-air software update is anachronistic and just flat wrong!" The company says it will be offering a free software update to fix the issue.
Tesla stocks dropped 5.69% to $202.04 at the closing market bell Thursday.
