San Francisco, Aug 31 : Elon Musk-run Tesla has been hit by a mass-action lawsuit in the US regarding a phantom braking issue that was claimed by the lawsuit to have changed “a security feature to a terrifying and potentially dangerous nightmare”.The lawsuit was initiated by Tesla owner Jose Alvarez Toledo in federal court in the Northern District of California seeking punitive damages, claimed that there are “hundreds of thousands” of customers who could want to join the class action lawsuit against Tesla, according to The Verge.
The suit accused the maker of electric cars of “fraudulently concealing the security dangers associated with its Autopilot driver assistance program, infringing its warranty, profiting unfairly from Autopilot and violating California’s unfair law on competition”.
Phantom braking occurs the case when an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) or a self-driving technology uses the brakes for no reason.
The system could be detecting an object in a false way in the road or anticipating collisions that will not occur and applying the brake in order avoid it.
The lawsuit is filed in the midst of Tesla is facing a federal probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) into its phantom brake issue that first surfaced in the fall of last year.
The US transportation agency has opened an investigation into more than 400,000 Teslas to find out if there are issues with the automated emergency brake systems.
The US government has received more than 750 complaints of unexpected brakes from Tesla owners.
“Many Tesla owners have reported significant sudden slow-downs, stops and unexpectedly because of the fake activation of the Class Vehicle’s brake systems, even though there were no objects in the vicinity,” the lawsuit read.
“When the “sudden Unintended Braking Defect occurs the vehicle’s meant to be a safety measure into a frightening and potentially dangerous nightmare” the report added.
Tesla had yet to respond to the suit.
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