The reports highlighted a noteworthy increase in Tesla owners reporting risky phantom braking events on Autopilot.
Phantom braking is a term used to describe when an Advanced Driver Assistance system (ADAS) or a self-driving system put the brakes for no specific reason.
The system possibly detects a false object on the road or anticipates a collision that will not actually happen and apply the brake to try to avoid it.
Perhaps, Phantom Braking is something you want to avoid as it can increase accidents if someone is following too closely behind you.
This issue is not new in Tesla’s Autopilot, but the report focused on Tesla drivers seeing an obvious increase in instances based on anecdotal evidence.
This was also backed by a clear increase in complaints to the NHTSA.
The reports made the rounds in a few more outlets, but it did not go mainstream until now.
However, the Washington Post ended up picking the story up with a similar problem earlier this month that was spreading more widely.
Despite the name, Tesla recommends that drivers should remain vigilant and supervise their vehicle, noting that the Autopilot ADAS system does not make the vehicle autonomous.
Tesla is currently undergoing investigation by the NHTSA for another 2 reasons.
In December 2021, it removed its passenger Play feature, that allowed games to be played on its touchscreen while the car was in motion, leading to an open investigation that covered about 580,000 vehicles.
Last August, the NHTSA started looking in the 11 cases of malfunction of the autopilot system involving emergency vehicles, covering approximately 765,000 Tesla cars.
The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) initiated a “preliminary evaluation” into Tesla after several complaints.
This is the time before the agency could officially issue a recall of the vehicles.
The company says that, there has been no crashes, injuries or fatalities as a result of the incidents that ever took place.
The complaints accused the program formation, saying that while using the ADAS features including adaptive cruise control, the vehicle unexpectedly applies its brakes while driving at highway speeds.
The Complainants that were received mentioned that the rapid deceleration can occur without any pre-warning, at random, and often repeatedly in a single drive cycle.
“ODI is opening this preliminary evaluation to understand the scope and seriousness of the problem, so that it can fully assessed for the potential safety-related issues.
The NHSTA, has opened it complaint section to public on the main website, so consumers can compare the vehicle safety.
In one complaint from 11th February 2022, the driver says: “Heavy braking occurs for no reason and multiple times.
Making it very risky and prone to collide with rear end followed.
In another case reported on 3rd February 2022, the user complains of “phantom braking problem where, their car suddenly decelerated from 73mph down to 59mph “in two seconds”.
