Transportation Department, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a defect petition submitted by Costas Lakafossis ("Petitioner") to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) requesting that the Agency recall all Tesla vehicle models produced from 2013 to the present due to what the Petitioner considers to be the increased likelihood of pedal misapplication. According to Petitioner, the differences in the operator controls between the subject Tesla vehicles and internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles promote driver pedal misapplication, leading to sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) incidents. Having reviewed the information submitted by Petitioner and Tesla, as well as data within its own files, NHTSA has denied the petition because the conditions described therein do not indicate the presence of a safety defect in the subject vehicles.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [Docket No. NHTSA-2026-0562] AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation. ACTION: Defect petition DP23001 has been denied. SUMMARY: This notice sets forth the reasons for the denial of a defect petition submitted by Costas Lakafossis (“Petitioner”) to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) requesting that the Agency recall all Tesla vehicle models produced from 2013 to the present due to what the Petitioner considers to be the increased likelihood of pedal misapplication. According to Petitioner, the differences in the operator controls between the subject Tesla vehicles and internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles promote driver pedal misapplication, leading to sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) incidents. Having reviewed the information submitted by Petitioner and Tesla, as well as data within its own files, NHTSA has denied the petition because the conditions described therein do not indicate the presence of a safety defect in the subject vehicles. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Martens, Vehicle Defects Division—D, Office of Defects Investigation, NHTSA, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590. Email: matthew.martens@dot.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 1.0 Introduction Interested persons may petition NHTSA requesting that the Agency initiate an investigation to determine whether a motor vehicl…
Citation: 91 FR 15690
