Tesla must send extensive new records to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration as part of an Autopilot safety probe — or else face steep fines. The agency initiated an investigation into Autopilot safety in 2021 after it identified a string of crashes in which Tesla vehicles using Autopilot had collided with stationary first responders' vehicles and road work vehicles. Instead, Tesla vehicles require a driver behind the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time. The company's FSD Beta consists of driver assistance features that have been tested internally but have not been fully debugged. Tesla uses its customers as software and vehicle safety testers via the FSD Beta program, rather than relying on professional safety drivers, as is the industry standard.

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Persons: Elon Musk, Porte, Tesla, Ronald Belt, Lars Moravy Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter, Viva Technology, Porte de, National, Safety Administration, Beta, Cruise, FSD Beta, NHTSA Locations: Paris, France, U.S