The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has terminated its inquiry into Tesla’s remote parking functionality, concluding that incidents were infrequent, occurred at minimal velocities, and lacked serious consequences. In a Friday update, the agency emphasized that this closure does not represent a definitive ruling on the absence of a safety defect and retains the authority to resume the investigation if circumstances warrant.
Launched through a software update in September 2024, the feature enables Tesla owners to command their vehicles to navigate autonomously at slow speeds using the Tesla app, relying solely on the car’s camera systems. This rollout marked a shift from the prior iteration, Smart Summon, which incorporated ultrasonic sensors—hardware no longer present on newer Tesla models.
NHTSA initiated the probe in January 2025 following dozens of crash reports linked to the “Actually Smart Summon” capability. Analysis revealed that out of millions of activation instances, fewer than one percent led to any incident, with most involving trivial property damage such as collisions with gates, stationary vehicles, or bollards.
Critically, the report documented zero occurrences involving pedestrians, cyclists, injuries, fatalities, or significant property loss as indicated by airbag deployment or vehicle towing. The agency attributed many incidents to inadequate environmental perception by either the user or the system, often stemming from restricted visibility in the app’s camera feed.
In some cases, snow accumulation obstructed camera lenses, a condition the system failed to identify. Tesla has deployed multiple software updates to enhance detection of camera blockages and object recognition, according to NHTSA’s findings.
