Washington, D.C., United States — An accident investigator is calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall all Tesla vehicles from 2013 onward, citing missing features that could result in the vehicle unintentionally accelerating forward.
Specifically, Costas Lakafosssis, a Greece-based engineer has petitioned the NHTSA to recall the Tesla vehicles with autopilot, claiming that the electric vehicles lack brake transmission shift interlock (BTSI) features, a common feature of automatic gearboxes to prevent sudden unintended acceleration.
Tesla’s driver assistance features include the ability to stop a car and go into reverse without the driver’s intervention, providing a convenience feature without requiring drivers to regularly practice this safety norm.
According to Drive Tesla Canada, BTSI features are only mandatory in the United States for vehicles with automatic gearboxes with a “park” position.
“There is absolutely no need and no reason behind the decision to allow the driver to select reverse gear and wait for the car to stop by itself, and then reverse without ever pressing the brake pedal,” said Lakafossis.
“This is not an oversight but a feature, a choice that puts marketing before safety.”
