Tesla is investigating at the 'phantom braking' issue

The US government is looking into complaints of Tesla cars abruptly stopping on highways.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the United States is investigating the subject of "phantom braking" (NHTSA).

In the last nine months, it has received 354 complaints, and its inquiry will cover about 416,000 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y automobiles from 2021 to 2022.

The problem, according to drivers, happens when they use the Autopilot driving assistance system.

When driving, the capability allows the car to manage some aspects of braking and steering, but it is not a substitute for a human driver.

Tesla advises drivers to be cautious and monitor their vehicles, despite the term, emphasizing that the Autopilot ADAS technology "does not render the car autonomous."

Tesla is now under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for two more issues.

It stopped its Passenger Play function, which enabled games to be played on the car's touchscreen while it was in motion, in December 2021, resulting in an active inquiry involving an estimated 580,000 automobiles.

Last August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating the role of the Autopilot system in 11 collisions involving emergency vehicles, affecting nearly 765,000 Tesla vehicles.

Tesla has been the subject of a "preliminary examination" by the NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) in response to the concerns. This is the step before the agency may issue a formal car recall.

There have been no wrecks, injuries, or fatalities as a result of the episodes, according to the report.

"The allegations state that while employing the ADAS capabilities including adaptive cruise control, the car abruptly deploys its brakes while travelling at highway speeds," the study adds.

"The sudden deceleration can occur without notice, at random, and frequently many times in a single drive cycle," according to the complainants.

This preliminary evaluation is being launched by ODI in order to evaluate the breadth and severity of the possible problem, as well as to completely analyze any potential safety-related problems."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) publishes customer complaints on its website so that buyers may compare car safety.

"Heavy braking occurs for no apparent reason and with no warning, resulting in multiple close misses for rear end crashes... this issue has occurred dozens of times over my five months and 10,000-mile ownership," the motorist writes in a complaint dated February 11, 2022.

Another user complains about "phantom braking for no apparent cause," claiming that their automobile abruptly decelerated from 73mph to 59mph "in two seconds" in another message dated 3 February 2022.