Dem Senators Demand Elon Musk Recall Teslas, Slam Him for Blaming Safety Issues on ‘Driver Abuse’: Disturbing That You Would ‘Blame Your Customers’
In a letter cc’d to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward Markey (D-MA) demanded that Elon Musk recall all Tesla “components that post a safety risk.”
The letter began, “We write with extreme concern following recent reporting about Tesla’s knowledge of safety flaws in its vehicles and concealment of the causes of these flaws from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This reporting puts your statement from January that ‘Teslas are the safest car on the road’ at stark contrast with reality. We call on you to swiftly recall all Tesla components that pose a safety risk and correct the record with NHTSA to ensure it can properly do its job.”
Markey also appealed to Musk on his X social media platform, writing “Tesla knew their vehicles were unsafe and mislead NHTSA. Tesla must stop blaming customers and recall their malfunctioning vehicles.”
The letter continued:
Moreover, we are disturbed that you would blame your customers for these failures. Reporting notes that Tesla repeatedly attributed the suspension failures to “vehicle misuse” or “driver abuse,” including when justifying to NHTSA why it was not pursuing the aforementioned suspension recall in the United States. It is unacceptable that Tesla would not only attempt to shift the responsibility for the substandard quality of its vehicles to the people purchasing them, but also make that same flawed argument to NHTSA. NHTSA exists to ensure roadway safety, but it cannot do its job with incomplete or incorrect information.
The senators repeated their demand that Musk “swiftly issue a recall for any component – power steering, suspension, or otherwise – that poses a threat to the safe functioning of a vehicle,” and ended the letter with a warning: “As you are well aware, no company is above the law.”
According to The Washington Examiner, the senators sent a letter to Musk in 2022 raising concerns over Tesla’s brake system. In 2021, they wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission regarding advertisements surrounding Tesla’s Autopilot function.
Musk hasn’t yet responded to the letter.
Read the Blumenthal-Markey letter here.
