US Transportation Regulator Singles Out Tesla In Calling For Tighter Autonomous Driving Rules

The US National Transportation Safety Board has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be stricter in its regulations on autonomous driving, especially with Tesla. 

What Happened: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) raised concerns over Tesla Inc's TSLA use of customers to test the automaker's fully automated, self-driving vehicles on public roads, CNBC has reported.

The NTSB has urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to be proactive in using federal requirements to regulate such automated driving systems on public roads.

NTSB chief Robert Sumwalt, in a letter to NHTSA, mentioned Tesla and its automated vehicle's beta version 16 times. 

"Tesla recently released a beta version of its Level 2 Autopilot system, described as having the full self-driving capability. By releasing the system, Tesla is testing on public roads a highly automated AV technology but with limited oversight or reporting requirements," CNBC quoted him as saying. 

Why It Matters: According to CNBC, the federal intervention could hamper Tesla's move on testing the self-driving vehicles by its customers. 

Last year Tesla chief Elon Musk said, "Tesla will have fully autonomous, level five vehicles on the road by 2021." 

According to Musk, once Tesla achieves full autonomy, the challenge lies with the regulatory bodies. But he said he would be able to convince authorities to give complete automated control to customers for both trial run and final use.