Investigations
Sudden Unintended Acceleration
NHTSA Defect Petition DP20001 - closed, opened 2020-01-13.
NHTSA investigation DP20001 is a Defect Petition opened on 2020-01-13 and currently closed. The subject is tracked inside the Office of Defects Investigation queue. Latest activity on this investigation was logged on 2021-01-08 - NHTSA updates that field whenever an Information Request goes out, a supplement is filed, or a status change is recorded in the public docket.
A Defect Petition like DP20001 starts when a person or group formally asks NHTSA to investigate a specific alleged defect. Petitioners submit evidence, NHTSA reviews it within 120 days, and either grants the petition (opening a PE) or denies it with a written explanation in the Federal Register.
Investigators summarized the matter as follows: "On December 19, 2019, NHTSA received a petition from Mr. Brian Sparks requesting that the Agency "recall all [Tesla] Model S, Model X, and Model 3 vehicles produced from 2013 to the present" due to sudden unintended acce..." Investigations are the early-warning layer of the federal auto-safety system, sitting upstream of formal recalls and defect orders. Whether this one closes without action or escalates into an Engineering Analysis, the full history stays in the ODI archive so researchers, litigators, and buyers can pull the paper trail at any time.
Investigation Summary
On December 19, 2019, NHTSA received a petition from Mr. Brian Sparks requesting that the Agency "recall all [Tesla] Model S, Model X, and Model 3 vehicles produced from 2013 to the present" due to sudden unintended acceleration (SUA). In his petition and follow-up submissions, the petitioner identified a total of 232 non-duplicative complaints to NHTSA, including 203 reporting crashes. On January 13, 2020, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Defect Petition DP20-001 to evaluate the petitioner’s request. ODI's evaluation included reviews of all complaints and supporting information referenced by the petitioner, as well as 14 additional complaints to NHTSA related to SUA crash allegations that were either not selected by the petitioner or were submitted after the petitioner's most recent submission. The review also included analyses of available crash data (EDR, Tesla log data, and/or video data) the Agency acquired as part of the evaluation. After reviewing the available data, ODI has not identified evidence that would support opening a defect investigation into SUA in the subject vehicles. In every instance in which event data was available for review by ODI, the evidence shows that SUA crashes in the complaints cited by the petitioner have been caused by pedal misapplication. There is no evidence of any fault in the accelerator pedal assemblies, motor control systems, or brake systems that has contributed to any of the cited incidents. There is no evidence of a design factor contributing to increased likelihood of pedal misapplication. The theory provided of a potential electronic cause of SUA in the subject vehicles is based upon inaccurate assumptions about system design and log data. NHTSA is authorized to issue an order requiring notification and remedy of a defect if the Agency’s investigation shows a defect in design, construction, or performance of a motor vehicle that presents an unreasonable risk to safety. 49 U.S.C. §§ 30102(a)(9), 30118
About This Investigation Type
A Defect Petition (DP) is initiated when an individual or organization formally petitions NHTSA to investigate a potential safety defect. NHTSA reviews the petition and decides whether to open an investigation.
Data from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Cross-references: NHTSA recall campaign API and NHTSA FARS where fatality records overlap. PlainCars does not rate or recommend vehicles. about how PlainCars sources NHTSA data.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.