TSLA News & Events

The National Transportation Safety Board called for standardized performance requirements and greater oversight to improve the safety of automated vehicle technology. The NTSB investigated two fatal 2024 crashes in which vehicles using Ford Motor Company's (F) hands-free partial automation system, BlueCruise, failed to stop for stationary vehicles. In a public meeting Tuesday to consider the investigations, the NTSB concluded that the drivers' overreliance on the automated system contributed to both crashes. In a Feb. 24, 2024, crash in San Antonio, a Ford traveling east in the center lane of Interstate 10 struck a stationary 1999 Honda CR-V (HMC). The Honda driver was killed, and the Ford driver sustained minor injuries. In a March 3, 2024, crash in Philadelphia, a Ford traveling north in the left lane of Interstate 95 struck two stationary vehicles-a 2012 Hyundai Elantra (HYMLF) and a 2006 Toyota Prius (TM) -causing them to collide with a passing Toyota Corolla. The drivers of the Prius and Elantra were killed. The Ford driver sustained minor injuries, and the Corolla driver was uninjured. In both crashes, no driver-applied or system-initiated braking or steering was recorded in the moments before impact. The NTSB found several gaps in safety and oversight of partial automation systems. There are no federal requirements for these systems to record data during crashes, which often means that manufacturers lack the needed information to comply with NHTSA's standing general order requiring them to report crashes involving this technology. Without manufacturer awareness and consistent data, critical information about these crashes remains inaccessible to regulators, investigators, law enforcement and safety groups. The NTSB issued recommendations to the U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA and Ford calling for: stronger federal guidelines and performance standards for safety features of partial automation systems, crash data recording and automatic crash notification requirements, improved driver monitoring systems to detect distraction, and changes to Ford's BlueCruise system to reduce excessive speeding and improve driver attention. Other publicly traded companies making autonomous vehicle technology include Tesla (TSLA), Waymo (GOOGL), Zoox (AMZN), Baidu (BIDU), and Pony AI (PONY).

SpaceX's eventual IPO is expected to create intense pressure on professional investors to participate, even at a valuation north of $1T, simply because sitting out may be too risky, The Information's Martin Peers reports. That urgency has only grown after Nasdaq approved rule changes allowing very large companies to join its major index just 15 days after listing, which is far sooner than the previous three month wait and float requirements, the author notes. Fund managers fret that if they sit out the SpaceX offering and the shares soar, their performance will look dismal. Musk and his bankers are well aware of the buying pressure they're putting on fund managers. They've got something like $75B worth of stock to sell, the publication adds.