The US auto safety regulator has closed its investigation into Tesla’s “actually smart summon” feature, finding it was only linked to low-speed crashes that caused minor property damage, with no injuries or deaths reported.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ended the probe on April 6 after reviewing about 2.59 million vehicles.
The feature allows users to move their car remotely over short distances in parking lots or on private property using a smartphone app, as long as they keep watching the vehicle.
Probe ends, but not with a clean bill of health
NHTSA’s decision is a short-term positive for Tesla, but it does not fully endorse the feature’s safety.
Reuters reported that the agency found the summon function was linked primarily to low-speed incidents resulting in minor property damage, and said the low frequency and severity of these incidents did not justify further action at this time.
However, the regulator also made it clear that closing the investigation does not mean there was never a safety defect, and it may take action in the future if needed.
This detail is important because the feature had received attention after repeated reports of Tesla’s hitting stationary objects while being moved remotely.
Economic Times noted that many of these crashes involved cars hitting parked vehicles, garage doors, or gates, often at the start of a summon session when drivers could not see well or were less aware of their surroundings.
Software fixes were central to the decision
The regulator said Tesla fixed the problems by sending out several over-the-air software updates. These updates were meant to improve how the car detects obstacles, notices when cameras are blocked, and responds to moving objects like gates.
The agency also said Tesla made changes to help reduce errors caused by things like snow or condensation on the cameras.
This was a main reason the investigation ended without a recall. Instead of deciding the feature needed to be removed or changed physically, NHTSA seems to have accepted that the software updates lowered the risks enough to close the case for now.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, according to the report.
Tesla remains under pressure on driver-assistance systems
Even though this investigation is over, Tesla’s larger automated-driving systems are still being closely watched.
StraitsTimes shared that last month, NHTSA upgraded its probe into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system to an engineering analysis, which is a more serious stage that can lead to a recall.
The review now covers about 3.2 million vehicles. The agency is looking into issues related to crashes, visibility problems, and whether Tesla’s systems give drivers enough warning in real-world situations.
Also, last month, NHTSA rejected a separate request to recall 2.26 million Tesla vehicles over concerns about unintended acceleration caused by pressing the wrong pedal.
The agency said it found no evidence of a safety defect. These cases show that the regulator is not always tough on Tesla, but is still watching several parts of the company’s driver-assistance systems closely.
What the decision means
Closing the smart summon investigation suggests that NHTSA saw the problem as real but under control. The incidents were at low speeds, the damage was minor, and Tesla had already made software changes to fix the main issues.
This is not the same as saying the feature has no problems. It just means that, based on what the agency knows now, the case did not require more action.
For Tesla, the immediate risk related to the smart summon feature has lessened. However, the larger regulatory issues remain.
Tesla’s driver-assistance and self-driving features are still under close watch, and future investigations will likely focus more on the bigger promises of full automated driving rather than just parking-lot features.
