NHTSA Complaint #11455168 — 2021 TESLA MODEL Y

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING issue reported to NHTSA

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Complaint Details

ODI Number 11455168
Vehicle 2021 TESLA MODEL Y
Component FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Date of Incident
Date Filed
Mileage N/A miles
Crash No
Fire No
Injuries 0
Deaths 0
Vehicle Towed No
State AZ

Consumer Description

While driving from Tucson to Denver the vehicle suddenly decelerated and/or braked no less than hundreds of times with varying rates--sometimes just a couple miles per hour and other times more than 30 miles per hour. These "phantom braking" events were generally on a divided interstate highway with clear visibility, flat, straight roads without rain/snow & oftentimes without another vehicle within 1/2 mile+. These events even happened 3 times within 3-4 minutes while I was speaking to Tesla roadside service trying to disable all sensors/interventions. More than once a vehicle behind me (at highway speeds) thought I was "brake-checking" them and would cause them to honk and deservedly give me a few finger symbols (road rage). There was no reason for the car to suddenly brake; no cars merging or in front of me other than light vehicle traffic in the opposite direction of the DIVIDED interstate. I asked TESLA several times if there is a way to turn off all the "assistance" and just have it function as a "normal" cruise control without "traffic aware" and other automatic braking features--but the answer was no. I am not exaggerating when I say this happened hundreds of time during my 2 trips. I always turned off the speed control when the roads were curving because I knew it would suddenly brake during a mountain pass curve & upset the vehicle--make it difficult to control, and potentially cause an accident at high speed for NO reason. My risk tolerance is fairly high, I have been driving cars with "Eyesight" and radar speed control and advanced safety features for over 10 years and have never felt less trusting or less safe than I do in my Tesla Model Y. I think Tesla should disable the "safety" feature until they can resolve the issue (perhaps a stop sale order)--I believe it will cause accidents even when someone is fully aware of its sudden, random braking issues. I have many video clips/pics of when the events ocurred as Tesla asked me to record.

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