Elon Musk probed by NHTSA about self-driving steering wheel 'nag' removal intent

Elon Musk used the first day of the new year to agree with a statement that "users with more than 10,000 miles on FSD Beta should be given the option to turn off the steering wheel nag" and to say that this would happen with the big Full Self-driving Beta (FSD) system update coming this month. His tweet has now put him in hot water with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) government agency which is probing Tesla for a number of accidents where its Autopilot or FSD Beta assisted driving systems may have been active at the time of the crash.

Today, the NHTSA put out a statement that it has asked Tesla for clarification on Musk's tweet about removing the steering wheel "nag" from its FSD Beta features with the next update. In order to comply with federal regulations, Tesla itself requires that "fully attentive driver who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment" uses its Autopilot or FSD options in their manual.

Recently, Elon Musk had to renege on his tease that Teslas will be turned into true self-driving vehicles with the release of the big single-stack FSD Beta v11 update by the end of 2022. Regulators, however, are of the opinion that Tesla's autonomous driving features will still require a driver's attendance for the foreseeable future, and won't be certifying FSD Beta as anything but a Level 2 solution any time soon.

This is why Elon Musk had to clarify that, while he thinks the software is ready to take a Tesla from point A to point B without driver input, regulatory hurdles will prevent v11 from doing that without all mandated precautions like the aforementioned steering wheel hold "nag." That's precisely why the NHTSA may have reacted on his intent to eventually limit the steering wheel hold warning with an upcoming FSD update, albeit for a certain category of drivers only, and is now seeking further clarification. 

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