Last Thursday, Teslas equipped with Full Self-Driving software were deemed defective enough to warrant a recall because they're prone to crashing. On Friday, all of those defective cars remained on the road, with the unreliable software still available to drivers, and no firm deadline on when it will get fixed.
The Tesla recall raises important and thorny questions not only about Tesla but also about auto safety regulation in the United States.
For starters, why is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration allowing drivers to continue to use experimental and dangerous software while Tesla tries to repair it? It's unclear when the software will be fixed. NHTSA has imposed no deadline, and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has a record of making grand promises he doesn't keep.
