California Department of Motor Vehicle Files Complaint: Tesla 'Mislead Consumers'

Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

On July 28, 2022, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) filed a complaint against Tesla's self-driving and autopilot claims.

Tesla posted several claims on its website that its vehicles “could be equipped with advanced driver assistance systems” and “the system is designed to run short and long-distance trips with no action required by the driver.” Both statements are untrue and misleading, according to the complaint.

Complaint: Tesla Ran Misleading Advertisements on its Website

In the period May 2021 to July 2022, Tesla (TSLA) ran advertisements on its website "at least five times,” which violates California's Civil Code, according to the DMV complaint.

The driving features Tesla labeled as "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving Capability" was described in the suit as misleading.

Tesla stated in its advertisement: "Your Tesla will determine the optimal route, navigating urban streets, complicated intersections, and freeways."

In June 2022, Tesla began using a disclaimer that these features require active driver supervision, which contradicts the "misleading labels and claims," according to the complaint.

The “Autopilot” feature comes standard in all Tesla vehicles.

Tesla warns drivers to stay alert while using it, but a 2021 MIT study found that drivers using the feature were more distracted and looked away from the road more often.

Fact: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data released in June 2022 found 273 crashes involving Tesla driver-assist technologies in the past nine months, either caused by Tesla Autopilot or its full self-driving software.

NHTSA studied 497 crashes, and 43 percent were caused by driver-assist technologies, commonly referred to as “Autopilot” and “Full Self-driving Capability.”