Another day, another federal probe into Elon Musk’s troubled EV company. This week, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reportedly announced that it was looking into one of Tesla’s automated driving modes, which is charmingly called “Mad Max.”
If you haven’t heard of “Mad Max,” that’s probably because it’s new. Ars Technica notes that it and another mode, “Sloth,” were added to cars by a firmware update issued earlier this month. Well, Reuters now reports some folks on social media have been complaining that Teslas using the driving mode were exceeding the speed limit (that certainly sounds like something Max would do). Now, the government is looking into it.
“NHTSA is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information,” the agency told Reuters. “The human behind the wheel is fully responsible for driving the vehicle and complying with all traffic safety laws.” There’s not a whole lot of information available other than that, but Gizmodo reached out to Tesla for comment (although the company dissolved a majority of its communications team years ago), and to the NHTSA for more information.
Who would have thought that a semi-automated driving mode named after a vengeful dystopian drifter with a lead foot might someday catch the eye of federal regulators? Not I. Sarcasm aside, Tesla’s FSD function has been probed by federal regulators for years so, for that reason too, this isn’t all that surprising. FSD has been criticized because, despite its name, it does still require the driver to…you know, drive.
Earlier this month, the NHTSA also opened an investigation into Tesla over dozens of reports that alleged its vehicles were running stop signs while engaged with FSD, CBS previously reported. Tesla also recently lost a wrongful death lawsuit involving Autopilot that will reportedly cost them $329 million.
