The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sent letters to twelve automakers requesting substantial data on their advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). The data will help the NHTSA in their on-going investigation of Tesla crashes and its Autopilot software.
Letters were sent to Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen, along with others.
The letters request data related to Level 2 driver-assist systems where the vehicle can control steering and braking/accelerating simultaneously.
For each automaker, the NHTSA requested the number of vehicles sold, leased or in operation, the cumulative mileage covered with Level 2 systems, as well as a log of the most recent updates.
Finally, the agency is also looking for all consumer complaints, crash reports, lawsuits, and field reports related to the driver-assist systems, reports Automotive News.
This request is complex, but all automakers need to reply to the NHTSA within the prescribed timeline. For Ford, Stellantis and GM, the deadline is November 3, 2021. While for the rest of the group, they have until November 17, 2021, to reply.
A failure to respond or a refusal to act could lead an automaker to face nearly $115 million civil penalties each.
