Tesla recalls 53,822 cars over 'assertive' mode being too hardcore

It was only at Tesla's recent Q4 2021 earnings call just last week, that CEO Elon Musk updated the timeline in which the full self-driving "safer than human" release would happen. Musk said he'd be "shocked" if we didn't see it before the end of 2022.

Musk said: "I would be shocked if we do not achieve Full Self-Driving safer than human this year. I would be shocked".

But now, Tesla is recalling 53,822 of their cars to remove the "rolling stop" feature that is causing issues. Tesla's current flock of Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X electric cars running firmware version 2020.40.4.10 or newer that are in the "full self-driving" beta program.

The option in the software allows for some tweaking of the mood of the car and its driving style, with drivers having the option between "chill", "average", and "assertive". The "assertive" mode has been the problem, where a Tesla vehicle approaching a four-way stop intersection at less than 5.6mph (9km/h) and doesn't detect any other things on the road, it will continue driving at that speed -- 5.6mph -- instead of slowing to a complete stop at the stop sign, like a human driver would.

You can read more about this here, on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website.

The Safety Recall Report state: "The "rolling stop" functionality is designed to allow the vehicle to travel through an all-way-stop intersection without coming to a complete stop when several operating conditions are first met".

The required conditions include:

1. The functionality must be enabled within the FSD Beta Profile settings; and
2. The vehicle must be approaching an all-way stop intersection; and
3. The vehicle must be traveling below 5.6mph; and
4. No relevant moving cars are detected near the intersection; and
5. No relevant pedestrians or bicyclists are detected near the intersection; and
6. There is sufficient visibility for the vehicle while approaching the intersection; and
7. All roads entering the intersection have a speed limit of 30 mph or less.

"If all the above conditions are met, only then will the vehicle travel through the all-way-stop intersection at a speed from 0.1 mph up to 5.6 mph without first coming to a complete stop. If any of the above conditions are not met, the functionality will not activate and the vehicle will come to a complete stop".