Tesla users alarmed by self-driving crashes in parking lots

UNITED STATES - United States (US) regulators are looking into parking lot crashes involving Tesla cars driving themselves to their owners using the company's Smart Summon feature, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Wednesday (Oct 2).

Tesla's new "smart summon" feature, designed to function as an automated valet, is at times causing some close calls in America's parking lots.

The feature enables customers to use an app to summon their driverless Tesla vehicle to leave a parking space and navigate around obstacles to meet its owner.

But soon after the feature was rolled out last week as part of a software update, some customers started posting videos of near collisions.

Footage like this one from Frisco, Texas, show a red Model 3 Tesla Nearly colliding with an SUV as it pulled out of a private parking lot to meet its owner.

[embed]https://twitter.com/eiddor/status/1177749574976462848[/embed]

The user told Reuters "... I had to take my finger off the button when I saw that my Tesla wasn't slowing down".

Another customer in Omaha, Nebraska told Reuters while he loves his Tesla, the summons feature has not functioned as expected. His car took a longer route through an empty parking lot to make its way back to him.

But there were plenty of examples on Twitter where the Smart Summon feature worked just fine. This user, for instance, calling it 'extremely epic'.

Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.

[embed]https://twitter.com/SavedTesla/status/1177940180214452224[/embed]

The company warns users that "Smart Summon is only intended for use in private parking lots and driveways adding , "you are still responsible for your car and must monitor it and its surroundings at all times."

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it is aware of some minor crashes with the new feature...adding that the agency will not hesitate to act if it finds evidence of a safety-related defect."