Key Points:
- U.S. safety officials ended their investigation into Tesla’s “Actually Smart Summon” feature.
- The tool caused only minor fender benders and no physical injuries or deaths.
- About 2.59 million Tesla vehicles use this smartphone-controlled parking tech.
- Tesla fixed safety concerns by sending out wireless software updates to its cars.
U.S. safety officials just wrapped up their investigation into one of Tesla’s most talked-about features. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Monday that it is closing the book on “Actually Smart Summon.” This tool lets Tesla owners move their cars around parking lots using just their phones, as long as they keep a close eye on the vehicle.
After looking at roughly 2.59 million cars, the government decided that the feature isn’t a major danger to the public. Most of the problems people reported involved small mistakes at very low speeds. We are talking about minor scrapes and property damage, like a car bumping into a curb or a shopping cart.
Most importantly, the agency found that nobody got hurt or died because of the software. Because the crashes were rare and not very serious, regulators felt there was no reason to keep the investigation going. This is a big relief for Tesla, which has faced a lot of pressure over its self-driving claims in recent years.
Tesla didn’t just sit around while the government watched them, either. The company sent out several “over-the-air” software updates to fix the bugs while the probe was active. These wireless patches helped the cars see obstacles better and improved how the cameras understand their surroundings. By making these changes remotely, Tesla satisfied the government’s concerns without making owners visit a service center.
Even though the probe is over, drivers still have to be careful. The system requires “continuous supervision,” meaning you cannot just walk away while your car drives itself toward you. If the car hits something while you are using the app, the driver is still the one responsible for the damage.
This decision comes at a busy time for the agency, which is still looking into other parts of Tesla’s Autopilot system. For now, “Smart Summon” is officially off the hook. This move allows Elon Musk’s company to keep pushing its high-tech features as it tries to stay ahead of the competition in the electric vehicle market.
