Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he's concerned about Tesla's marketing of the system, which is under investigation by his department in connection with crashes that have caused at least 14 deaths.
Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, didn't immediately return messages left Thursday by the AP seeking comment. In the Wednesday interview, Buttigieg said that self-driving vehicles have enormous potential to reduce the nearly 40,000 U.S. roadway deaths that happen each year, a level that he called unacceptable. But he said the technology has not been proved yet. "It's far from automatic that it's going to meet that potential," he said. "That's what we're trying to shape here at the Department of Transportation.
The system is being tested on public roads by as many as 400,000 Tesla owners. But the NHTSA said in documents that the system can make unsafe actions such as travelling straight through an intersection from a turn-only lane, going through a yellow traffic light without proper caution or failing to respond to speed limit changes.
No vehicle on sale today can drive itself, he stressed, saying that drivers must pay attention in all cases.Buttigieg also touted the Biden administration's efforts to electrify the nation's auto fleet. Buttigieg acknowledged "some real differences of opinion" on how to implement the tax provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, but said tax credits that take thousands of dollars off the purchase price of EVs are crucial along with a network of charging stations to accommodate millions of new EVs.