A rough year for Tesla just got worse. This week, the carmaker issued a recall of over 125,000 Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y vehicles due to yet another seat belt issue. According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall report, the seat belt warning system isn’t working as intended on some Tesla vehicles.
The NHTSA report explains that there’s a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) rule requiring audible and visual seat belt reminder signals to alert the driver that their seat belt is not fastened after they turn on the ignition. In affected Tesla vehicles, the seat belt warning light and audible chime weren’t always activating as intended due to a software issue.
According to the timeline, Tesla first identified the issue on April 18, 2024, as part of an internal compliance audit. Over the next few weeks, the carmaker investigated the bug, performed tests to recreate it, and began determining how many cars might be affected. On May 20, Tesla made the decision to voluntarily recall the affected vehicles.
Tesla claims that it isn’t aware of any collisions or injuries related to the malfunction.
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In order to repair the defect, Tesla is rolling out a free over-the-air software update for affected vehicles starting in June 2024. The report explains that the update “will remove dependency on the driver seat occupancy switch from the software logic and only rely on driver seat belt buckle and ignition status to activate the seat belt reminder signals.”
Tesla owners don’t have to do anything themselves, but if you do own a Tesla, be sure to buckle your seatbelt as soon as you get in, even if your car doesn’t yell at you.