Transport Canada has announced that 192,769 cars in Canada are impacted by Tesla’s recent over-the-air (OTA) recall related to Autopilot. Earlier this week the NHTSA published the same recall, which impacted over 2 million cars in the US.
The OTA recall, which doesn’t require a service visit like a traditional recall, comes after a 2 year investigation by the NHTSA into incidents of Tesla cars colliding with parked emergency vehicles with Autopilot engaged. Despite claims from mainstream media that this is a massive recall due to defects with Autopilot, the exact opposite is actually true, as the federal agency did not find blame with the capabilities of the driver-assist system, but rather with how people abuse and misuse it.
As described in the Transport Canada recall, the problems arise when “the driver does not maintain responsibility for vehicle operation and is unprepared to intervene as necessary.” As a result, the NHTSA only asked Tesla to add more stringent safeguards to keep driver’s more aware.
The improvements have already started rolling out in software update 2023.44.30, which includes the following improvements to Autopilot.
- Additional controls and alerts for Autosteer engagement
- Measures to encourage continuous driving responsibility
- Prominence of visual alerts on the user interface
- Simplified engagement and disengagement of Autosteer (Single-Pull Autosteer)
- Additional checks during Autosteer engagement outside controlled access highways and approaching traffic controls
- Eventual suspension from Autosteer for repeated failure to demonstrate continuous driving responsibility
You can read the Transport Canada notice here. There is no need to check if your car is covered by it, because there is no action required on your part except to install the software update when it is pushed to your car.
