The company Tesla, led by Elon Musk, has been the subject of a class action lawsuit in the United States over a phantom braking problem which, according to the complaint, has transformed “a safety device into a frightening nightmare and dangerous “.
The lawsuit, filed by Tesla owner Jose Alvarez Toledo in federal court for the Northern District of California seeking punitive damages, claims ‘hundreds of thousands’ of customers may seek to join his class action lawsuit against the company, reports The Verge.
The lawsuit accuses the electric car maker of “fraudulently concealing safety risks associated with the company’s Autopilot driver assistance system, breaching its warranties, unfairly profiting from Autopilot and of violating California’s unfair competition law.
Ghost braking is when an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), or autonomous driving system, brakes for no good reason.
The system may mistakenly detect an object on the road or anticipate a collision that will not actually occur and brake to try to avoid it.
The lawsuit comes as Tesla is the subject of a federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regarding its phantom braking issue, which first surfaced last fall.
The US Transportation Agency has opened an investigation into more than 400,000 Teslas for issues with their automated emergency braking system.
The US government has received more than 750 unexpected braking complaints from Tesla owners.
“Many Tesla owners have reported severe and unexpected slowing and stopping due to false engagement of their class vehicle’s brake systems, even when no objects were nearby,” the action reads. justice.
When the ‘sudden involuntary brake fault’ occurs, it turns what is supposed to be a safety device into a scary and dangerous nightmare,” he added.
Tesla has not yet reacted to this lawsuit.
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