Tesla is under investigation for ‘Actually Smart Summon’ crashes

[ChasingCoral]

Tesla is under investigation for ‘Actually Smart Summon’ crashes

Fred Lambert| Jan 7 2025 - 8:30 am PT

Tesla is under investigation by NHTSA over reported crashes involving ‘Actually Smart Summon’, Tesla’s driverless system for parking lots.

Actually Smart Summon is an updated version of Tesla’s ‘smart summon’, which is the ability for Tesla vehicles to navigate parking lots autonomously without a driver inside the vehicle.

CEO Elon Musk has promised that it is coming on several occasions as a “mind blowing feature”, but it has always suffered delays.
Back in 2022, he said that it would come by the end of September and it would be now called “actually smart summon” for vehicles that used vision-only, camera-only systems.

However, the feature hasn’t been launched since September 2024.

There are some useful use cases for Actually Smart Summon, like if you have a very tight parking spot where it would be hard to open the doors, you can get in and out before and move the vehicle remotely, but it is often used by people in commercial parking lots to bring the vehicle to them as they come out of the shops – often just to impress people as it is fairly slow and inefficient.

Here’s Tesla demonstration video, which they posted at almost twice the speed:

The car owner needs to hold a button on the app for the car to keep going, as they remain responsible for the vehicle even if there’s no one inside.

With the release of the vision-only version of the feature late last year, many people got to try it for the first time and inevitably, it led to a bunch of accidents.

Now, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) announced that they launched a probe into the situation after being made aware of several crashes involving Actually Smart Summon where owners alledged that they didn’t have enough time to stop the system to avoid a crash:

ODI is aware of multiple crash allegations, involving both Smart Summon and Actually Smart Summon, where the user had too little reaction time to avoid a crash, either with the available line of sight or releasing the phone app button, which stops the vehicle’s movement.

NHTSA is specifically looking into 16 alleged crashes involving Tesla’s Actually Smart Summon.

Top comment by Murphy Boyle
Liked by 11 people
I work with a guy whose Tesla hit someone using this feature. Was in the shop for a month+ getting fixed. ?
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The federal agency noted that Tesla hasn’t reported any of these crashes:

Tesla has not reported any Smart Summon or Actually Smart Summon crashes through the Standing General Order for crashes involving ADS or Level 2 ADAS, which requires reporting of crashes on publicly accessible roads.

Tesla has lobbied to remove this reporting requirement and we recently reported that Trump’s transition team has signaled that it plans to do that.

NHTSA elaborated on what it plans to test as part of its investigation:

NHTSA will evaluate the top speed that a vehicle can attain while Actually Smart Summon is engaged, designed-in operating restrictions for usage on public roads, and line of sight requirements. NHTSA expects this preliminary evaluation to include review of remote vehicle control through the phone app at various distances and lines of sight, including app connectivity delays resulting in increased stopping distance and the ability to utilize Actually Smart Summon in roadway environments or operating conditions for which the current version of the system is neither intended nor designed.

The agency is also investigating Tesla over other features of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving products.

https://electrek.co/2025/01/07/tesla-is-under-investigation-for-actually-smart-summon-crashes/

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[GreaseMonkey]

??‍ a few dumb questions: if you park in a spot so tight that you have to exit the vehicle before parking, how do the other two individuals who don’t have “actually smart summons” get in and out? Even if they could, what are the chances of severe door dings? Is that spot so coveted and valuable that it’s worth damaging your car over it?

Really dumb solution looking for a problem.

 

[Maquis]

??‍ a few dumb questions: if you park in a spot so tight that you have to exit the vehicle before parking, how do the other two individuals who don’t have “actually smart summons” get in and out? Even if they could, what are the chances of severe door dings? Is that spot so coveted and valuable that it’s worth damaging your car over it?

Really dumb solution looking for a problem.

Just think….when all cars are so equipped, a given parking lot will be re-striped to hold 20% more cars. ?

 

[superdave80]

I saw a few videos of this feature. It's a stupid feature. You have to be close to the vehicle, and at the speed the vehicle moves, you could walk to the parked car and back several times in the time it takes for the vehicle to be summoned.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Just think….when all cars are so equipped, a given parking lot will be re-striped to hold 20% more cars. ?

Elon needs to go easy on the weed a bit ??‍

 

[Maquis]

Elon needs to go easy on the weed a bit ??‍

Don’t hold your breath!

 

[HuntingPudel]

I saw a few videos of this feature. It's a stupid feature. You have to be close to the vehicle, and at the speed the vehicle moves, you could walk to the parked car and back several times in the time it takes for the vehicle to be summoned.

I already have a solution to that when I drive the Blazer. Park it on top of a compact import. ??

 

[CaptMachE]

Elon needs to go easy on the weed a bit ??‍

He’s on ketamine. much more dangerous. And he is addicted.

 

[Jeff-NoVA]

I’m guessing that investigation and any others into Tesla will end around 12:01 on January 20.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I’m guessing that investigation and any others into Tesla will end around 12:01 on January 20.

Nah. About two hours later.

 

[roamtheworld]

Tesla isn’t the only company with parking assist features. https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/advice/best-self-parking-cars Hyundai/Kia looks like it has the most cars including EVs and the Navigator has something as well. Not sure if any other company can drive around the parking lot like Tesla says it can.

 

[Andy OS WA]

I know one way to have cheaper EV's. Let's not load them up with unnecessary electronics like smart summon.

 

[Andy OS WA]

He’s on ketamine. much more dangerous. And he is addicted.

Elon claims he only does Special K every two weeks for his depression. How much he actually does is unknown. Personally, I think he does a lot more than he lets on. But that is just my opinion.

 

[kltye]

??‍ a few dumb questions: if you park in a spot so tight that you have to exit the vehicle before parking, how do the other two individuals who don’t have “actually smart summons” get in and out? Even if they could, what are the chances of severe door dings? Is that spot so coveted and valuable that it’s worth damaging your car over it?

Really dumb solution looking for a problem.

My significant other is a larger person, and there have been many times where she's had a very difficult time getting in/out of spots where I've had only slight issues. I also grew up in Asia, where parking spots are tight and sometimes aren't as orderly as they are here. Not saying this is a "must-have" feature, nor do I think smart summon is a good idea, but the Hyundai/Kia implementation of just moving the car backwards and forwards is a great idea. It also uses the fob, rather than an app, which IMO must make it more reliable.

One nice use case of smart summon (if it worked perfectly 100% of the time) would be when it's raining and you're caught without an umbrella.

 

[zvez]

He’s on ketamine. much more dangerous. And he is addicted.

plus he's a dick, a dick on drugs with vast wealth is a bad combination

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