San Francisco: Former US presidential candidate Ralph Nader has called Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology as one of the “most dangerous and irresponsible actions” by a car company in decades.
Nader, a political and consumer protection advocate, has called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US to remove FSD technology from every Tesla.
According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the technology is available in nearly 100,000 vehicles.
“Tesla should never have put this technology in its vehicles. Now over 100,000 Tesla owners are currently using technology that research shows malfunctions every eight minutes,” Nader said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“I am calling on federal regulators to act immediately to prevent the growing deaths and injuries from Tesla manslaughtering crashes with this technology,” he added.
Last week, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California accused Tesla of running fake claims about its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) features.
The agency said in its filing that Tesla “wrongly implies” that cars equipped with the technology can operate autonomously.
The NHTSA has been investigating Tesla and its Full Self-Driving technology for several years.
“NHTSA must use its safety recall authority to order that the FSD technology be removed in every Tesla. This nation should not allow this malfunctioning software,” said Nader.
“No one is above the laws of manslaughter,” he added.
Tesla drivers have to pay $12,000 extra for the FSD system that comes with auto-parking, auto lane changing and the ability for drivers to summon a vehicle from a parking space to where they’re standing.
In Tesla’s Q2 earnings call, Musk said the price of FSD Beta might go up by the end of this year.
–IANS