NHTSA Complaint #11638527 — 2018 TESLA MODEL S

While driving both North (in the evening) and also South (in the morning) on [XXX] between Washington, DC and Richmond, VA I have experienced an issue with Tesla’s Auto Pilot that can be very dangerous and scary. While using the navigation system and with Auto Pilot on while in the left most line on this divided highway, the car made multiple attempts to steer into the Express Lanes even when the large gates are closed and the red lights are on to indicate that the Express lanes are closed in the direction of traffic. To counteract this, it is necessary to quickly take control of the steering wheel and to get it to cancel Auto Pilot, otherwise the car would go into the gates and cause an accident. This has happened to me several times when I was traveling in the left most lane and when the gates were closed. This happened in November, December and in January. The system has not learned to handle this situation and to avoid steering into the barriers. I reported these incidents to Tesla’s Support Team by phone and after several weeks I received a phone call whereby the local service center (Rockville, MD) called me. Josh, the person that called me read a lengthy text to me that essentially reviewed the driver’s responsibilities when using Auto Pilot. I asked if there was any indication that they will work on fixing this issue and I was told that the explanation I got (which was no explanation at all, just a reminder of driver responsibilities) was the entire response. I informed him that I would report the incident to NHTSA. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)