Doug’s job in the United States has struck the traffic safety regulator. Self -driving experts

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The functional cuts in the traffic safety regulator in the United States incite the so -called government efficiency management in Elon Musk inappropriately to assess the self -driving risk, which hindered the supervision of technology carried out by the richest man in the world over the future of Tesla.

Of nearly 30 workers in the Traffic Safety Department on the highways, they were rejected in February as part of the Musk campaign to reduce the federal workforce, and many were in the “Certainty Cerageous Office”.

These cuts are part of the mass shootings by Duji, which affected at least 20,000 federal employees and raised widespread concern about the conflict of potential interests of musk given that many targeted agencies are organizing or have contracts with his business.

NHTSA, which was a thorn in the Tesla team for years, has eight active investigations in the company after receiving – and published – more than 10,000 complaints from the public.

Moral spirit in the agency, which requested tens of Tesla to remember The launch of the driving programs and the driver’s assistant in the group was delayed, after engaging in the opening of the DOGE of discounts in jobs, according to the current and former NHTSA employees.

A Tesla driver stops at the Sheitz fuel station in Breezewood, Pennsylvania, the United States
The National Road Traffic Safety Administration has eight active investigations in Tesla © Nate Smallwood/Bloomberg

“There is a clear conflict of interests in allowing someone who has an impact on commercial interests on appointments and politics in the agency that is organizing it,” said one of the leading great NHTSA, who was not among the demobilization operations led by Dog.

The remaining agency staff is now watching the experience of other federal organizers through musk companies.

“Musk attacked the Federal Administration Committee and the Federal Communications Committee to benefit from Spacex,” said another organizer. “Why is NHTSA saving?”

Musk has repeatedly clashed with the federal and state authorities. Last year, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration called for resignation and sharply criticized the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) to cancel the 2022 deal for the Satellite and wireless telecommunications company to provide the rural broadband.

NHTSA said in a statement that safety has been its top priority and that it would impose the law on any car maker in line with its bases and investigations. He added: “The agency’s investigations were and will remain independent.”

Musk, Doge and Tesla did not immediately respond to the suspension requests.

The separation operations, which were incited by e -mail on Valentine’s Day, affected about 4 percent of the agency’s 800 employees, and included employees who promised promotions as well as newly rented workers, according to seven people familiar with the matter.

The Tesla Model 3 vehicle is displayed using a full -driving pilot program on the city's road in Encinitas, California
Tesla has a lot of riding on the quick success of the so -called full self -driving programs © Mike Blake/Reuters

Some people working to automate vehicles said that it is not commensurate, because the department was not formed until 2023, so there were many newer tenants still under test.

The email was martyred with the weak performance as a reason for the semester. However, a great character in NHTSA rejected the idea that this is the basis for reception. He said the last morale was low after “some huge talent losses.”

Dog’s actions can hinder Tesla plans, according to one of the agency workers, who said that the chapter “will definitely weaken NHTSA’s ability to understand self -driving techniques.”

“This is an office that should be at the forefront of how to deal with AVS (independent vehicles) and know what it should seem to set up future rules,” said a former NHTSA employee. “It will be paradoxes if Dog Tesla slows down.”

The company has a lot of quick success of its so -called full driving software.

Tesla Cybercab or Robotaxi for self -driving internal battery battery in The Autosalon on January 10, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium
Elon Musk does not contain pedals or steering wheel © Sjoerd Van Der Wal / Getty Images

Musk promised customers and investors that Tesla will launch a horseback service in Austin, Texas by June and begin to produce a fleet from Cybercabs Next year.

To do this, Tesla needs an exemption from NHTSA to operate a non -standard driver on American roads because Cybercabs Musk does not contain pedals or a driving wheel.

One manager in Tesla said: “Allowing those in an independent division is a severe madness – we must press to add people to NHTSA.” They “need to develop a national framework for AVS, otherwise Tesla does not have a FSD or Robotaxis.”

NHTSA Resolution on Cybercab’s exemption and its proposed future In a step A program for evaluating and supervising cars without driver and assistance will be watched closely, taking into account the high risks of Tesla.

The current and former NHTSA officials have expressed their concerns about our ambitious Musk’s ambitious plans and how it will carry its influence to ensure a quick launch of Cybercab and FSD that are not subject to the supervision of American roads.

A person told FT: “The government can” accelerate the application (AV step) and weaken it in some way, and therefore the safety issue is less famous to fulfill. ”

The future of reporting Crash is another field that raises concern for those in the agency, after reports that the Trump administration may seek to reduce or cancel the rules of detection.

Tesla Cybertruck and other vehicles in the parking lot in the Tesla showroom in West Bloomfield, Michigan, the United States
NHTSA recently requested 46,000 electronic companies examined after the discovery of an external plate. © Emily Elconin/Bloomberg

After a series of accidents, NHTSA was presented in 2021 A. Public order This requires automobile makers to report within 24 hours, any serious accidents that include vehicles equipped with the help of advanced driver or automatic driving systems.

The enforcement of the request was a vital tool for the agency to launch investigations into Tesla and other car makers because there is no federal regulatory framework for cars that are not subject to human control.

It was very important to summon 2 million in December 2023 to make an update that would force drivers to pay attention when the ATM program was involved.

A person involved in the summons said: “Reporting the reports is vital, it was not possible for a huge Tesla call on the automatic pilot without it. We got a great deal of information about accidents and followed them with demands for more data and video. “But it seems that everything is a fair game now.”

One of the persons familiar with Musk said that the company was unfairly punished by the rules because its sensors and video recording devices are more advanced than competitors, so it provides more complete data.

The person said: “The correspondents see that we are reporting more incidents – which have nothing to do with many of them with the automated pilot – and show the wrong story about our safety record.” “There is a healthy amount of frustration with this dynamic … The idea that our safety tape is less wrong.”

NHTSA has not shown any signs of retreat, as it supervised three new calls for Tesla vehicles since Trump took office, the last of which is asking 46,000 e -nonsense It is examined after the discovery of an external plate that was vulnerable to falling due to the wrong glue.

Among the eight active investigations in Tesla vehicles, five are related to MUSK claims about the capabilities of the automatic Autopilot Autopilot driver system and its FSD program-the central promises to provide the value of Tesla, and the subject of thousands of consumer complaints.

The agency has received an average of 20 per month on FSD since the launch of the program, according to the FT analysis of more than 10,000 complaints.

A sharp rise in complaints about the so -called “imaginary braking” at the beginning of 2022 led to an investigation. In one, about an accident in mid -October 2024, the Tesla 3 Tesla suddenly stopped in FSD suddenly in front of a car that would have destroyed it if the Tesla driver did not take control of the car and accelerate it.

“The software is far from being ready to use safely,” said the driver of model 3 in the complaint.

While multiple Tesla Tech updates in the past two years have reduced complaints about brakings, other software problems are still ongoing. FT analysis, which used artificial intelligence to classify complaints, shows errors associated with driver auxiliary tools such as FSD and Autopilot that make up a large share of complaints filed against the company last year.

In February, the Cybertruck 2024 driver informed that FSD was separated without warning, causing the car suddenly to speed up and face face with another car. The owner said they had contacted Tesla service, but the car was not examined or repaired.

The former CEO of Apple Jonathan Morrison has been nominated as an official in the next NHTSA and must find a way to move in the agency through conflicting interests with musk, without accusing her of strangling AV innovation.

“Elon has really made a lot of interesting things with Tech, which is believed to be impossible.”

“What matters to me is that Tesla is unknown to take a slow and systematic approach, they move quickly and break things and people in danger because of this. There were preventive deaths, so they are an immediate concern for us.”



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