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A couple of days after reviews surfaced that Tesla permits drivers to play video video games on dashboard contact screens whereas automobiles are transferring, Mercedes-Benz has issued a US recall for the same challenge.
The German automaker mentioned in paperwork posted Friday by US regulators that the difficulty affected 227 automobiles and already has been mounted by updating an inner pc server.
However the truth that Mercedes did the recall over issues about distracted driving, and Tesla has not, raised questions on whether or not federal auto security requirements are being utilized equally by the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration.
“MB is following the regulatory guidelines as they’re presupposed to — in sharp distinction to what we have been seeing from Tesla,” mentioned Philip Koopman, a professor {of electrical} and pc engineering at Carnegie Mellon College. If NHTSA would not take motion in opposition to Tesla, the company could have one normal for Tesla and one other for Mercedes and different automakers, Koopman mentioned.
NHTSA did not instantly deal with the double normal or Tesla, however mentioned in an announcement Friday that the federal car security act prohibits producers from promoting automobiles that pose an unreasonable danger to security.
“Each motorcar producer in america has the identical accountability to establish and instantly restore, without spending a dime, such security defect of their automobiles,” the assertion mentioned.
The company mentioned it is assessing how automakers establish and safeguard in opposition to distraction hazards attributable to faults, misuse or meant use of infotainment screens. NHTSA mentioned it usually communicates with automakers about issues, in addition to reviewing client complaints and a “large quantity of information that firms are required to submit frequently, on the lookout for proof of security dangers. If the info present that such a danger might exist, NHTSA will act instantly,” the company mentioned.
A message was left Friday looking for remark from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations division.
Mercedes mentioned in paperwork that on some 2021 and 2022 EQS and S mannequin automobiles, drivers may entry tv applications and the web whereas the automobiles are touring. The automaker mentioned it meant to disable the options whereas the automobiles are transferring, however the recalled automobiles had an incorrect pc configuration.
“If an occupant had been to actively choose the perform or utility whereas the car is driving, then driver distraction may outcome, which may enhance the chance of a crash,” the corporate wrote in paperwork. The recalled automobiles have energetic and linked “Mercedes me” accounts.
Mercedes wrote that it has no reviews of any crashes or accidents from the issue, which was found in an organization car in Germany.
Final month a Tesla proprietor close to Portland, Oregon, filed a grievance with NHTSA after discovering that whereas driving, he may play video video games and browse the web on the display screen of his 2021 Tesla Mannequin 3. The company mentioned Thursday that it’s speaking with Tesla in regards to the challenge.
NHTSA already is investigating why Tesla’s “Autopilot” partially automated driving system retains crashing into stopped emergency automobiles, and it has inquired about why Tesla did not file recall paperwork when it did an over-the-air web replace in an effort to handle the protection drawback. It is also trying into the efficiency of Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” software program after getting a grievance that it almost triggered a crash.
Tesla says neither system can drive automobiles and that drivers should be able to intervene always.
Jason Levine, government director of the nonprofit Heart for Auto Security, mentioned the auto trade appears to have reached a degree with infotainment screens the place it should “select whether or not to be an enabler or a preventer” of distracted driving.
“We’re glad to see Mercedes recall and restore this unreasonable danger to everybody on the street, however would urge NHTSA to maneuver rapidly to make sure that all screen-based leisure distractions are disabled when automobiles are in movement, irrespective of the producer,” Levine mentioned.
Mercedes possible is paying shut consideration to US security legal guidelines after it needed to pay a $13 million (roughly Rs. 98.46 crores) penalty to NHTSA in 2019 for a sequence of reporting failures involving recalled automobiles.
The automaker agreed to the cost and to repair flaws after the company alleged that Mercedes was gradual to report security issues and wasn’t mailing out recall notification letters rapidly sufficient.
Mercedes’ US unit mentioned on the time that it did not do something improper intentionally.
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