Tesla is releasing an over-the-air update to make its vehicles consider a stop sign a command rather than a suggestion.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says the update will remove the Rolling Stop feature that debuted in October 2021 from Tesla Model S, X, 3, and Y vehicles equipped with the optional Full Self-Driving add-on. (Which doesn’t offer true autonomous driving and has already been criticized by safety regulators.)
The agency explains in a safety recall notice that Rolling Stop allowed Tesla vehicles to “travel through the all-way-stop intersection at a speed from 0.1mph up to 5.6mph without firstcoming to a complete stop,” provided a variety of conditions are met.
Those conditions include the vehicle having “sufficient visibility” into the intersection, which must be an all-way stop, and which must involve roads with a speed limit of 30mph or less. If any of those conditions aren’t met, NHTSA says, the vehicle will automatically come to a full stop.
“Entering an all-way-stop intersection without coming to a complete stop may increase the risk of collision,” NHTSA says. “Tesla is not aware of any collisions, injuries or fatalities related to this condition.” (The administration is investigating other crashes involving Tesla vehicles, however.)
Tesla will disable the Rolling Stop feature with version 2021.44.30.15 of its vehicles’ firmware, NHTSA says, with plans to start rolling out the over-the-air update sometime in early February.
