U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) issued the following joint statement after Tesla recalled more than 360,000 of its vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving Beta software due to crash risk:

“NHTSA rightly pushed Tesla to issue this necessary recall. We have long warned that there are critical flaws with Tesla’s software, including the rolling stops feature, which puts the public at grave risk. While a critical step, this recall is long overdue and was clearly needed, as we explained when we raised alarm about Tesla’s features. We strongly urge NHTSA to swiftly require recalls for safety risks it finds during its ongoing investigations, and Tesla must finally stop overstating the real capabilities of its vehicles.”

Blumenthal and Markey have long pushed for autonomous vehicle (AV) technology safety. In August 2021, Blumenthal and Markey sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), calling for the agency to launch an investigation into Tesla’s advertising of driving automation systems. The full text of the letter can be found here. In February 2022, Blumenthal and Markey sent a letter to Tesla Co-founder and CEO Elon Musk following numerous reports of dangerous braking flaws in Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems and amid several federal safety investigations, voicing serious concerns with the implementation of the company’s technology. The full text of the letter to Musk can be found here. In June 2022, Blumenthal and Markey issued a joint statement applauding the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for upgrading its investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot system from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis after identifying additional crashes at first responder sites. In October 2022, Blumenthal and Markey issued a joint statement on a reported DOJ investigation into Tesla’s misleading advertising of driving automation systems.

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