- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Toddler among 4 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
Tesla undertaking 4th car recall in two weeks
Tesla was recalling over a half a million US electric cars due to a "Boombox" feature that can drown out audible warnings for pedestrians, in the fourth recall made public in two weeks, records showed Thursday.
The automaker faces increasing scrutiny from American regulators, as watchdogs have accused Elon Musk's firm of pushing safety limits.
US authorities have set specific standards for the sounds that electric and hybrid vehicles must make, which are quieter than vehicles with internal combustion engines, in order to warn pedestrians.
Yet the "Boombox" option launched by Tesla in late 2020, which allows custom sounds like music to be emitted from an outdoor speaker when the car is parked or moving, could interfere with that warning, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found.
This "could increase the risk of a collision," NHTSA said in a recall report dated February 4, which notes Tesla is not aware of any accidents caused by this problem.
The regulator said about 578,600 cars were potentially involved in the recall, which Tesla plans to solve by remotely updating its software rather than forcing owners to come to service centers.
The agency sent an initial request for information to Tesla about "Boombox" back in January 2021 and then held several meetings with the manufacturer, which tried to defend the compliance of this option.
But Tesla eventually agreed to disable the feature when the vehicle is in drive, reverse or neutral mode.
The "Boombox" recall is the fourth for Tesla made public in the United States in a matter of weeks.
NHTSA announced on February 1 the recall of nearly 54,000 vehicles to end a drive-assist feature that allows Tesla cars in certain conditions to go through a stop sign without fully stopping.
Two days later it announced a recall of 817,143 vehicles to adjust the seatbelt warning system, which may not activate under certain conditions.
And on Wednesday, the agency announced a recall of 26,681 cars to correct a software error related to a valve in the heat pump that can affect the ability to defrost the windshield.
Tesla has long regularly performed remote software updates without necessarily notifying users or regulators.
But NHTSA has stepped up its actions against the company in recent months, including launching an investigation last summer after several crashes with emergency vehicles and requesting more information from the company.
P.M.Smith--AMWN