Tesla’s Boombox feature triggers “recall” from the NHTSA – again | Hacker News Reader

Tesla’s Boombox feature triggers “recall” from the NHTSA – again

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22 pointsCarCooler10 comments

Sounds meant to be audible to blind people can be swapped with arbitrary MP3 files? Just another case of "first principle thinking" (i.e. naivete) colliding with real world regulations, with predictable results.

> NHTSA notes that Tesla’s Boombox and the company’s pedestrian alert sounds are mutually exclusive

I wouldn’t characterize this as Tesla allowing users to swap the pedestrian alert sound, even though the NHTSA is expressing concerns consistent with that, they go on to concede unambiguously that it’s not the case.

It sounds like actually they are concerned both features can emit noise at the same time.

A good faith interpretation is that blind users may not realize it is a car because they didn’t hear the “car noise” over the noise of the boom box.

However, this seems like NHTSA is being sensational. A driver could also just have music playing inside the cabin with their windows down, and it doesn’t seem that different. From that perspective, forcing tesla to do a “recall” seems dubious. Whether the “boom box” noise comes from the “pedestrian alert” speaker or some other speaker seems like a technicality to me.

Either way, the NHTSA’s request is pretty reasonable, despite their concern seeming contrived. Disabling the boom box while summoning the car doesn’t create undue burden for tesla or it’s users, but it doesn’t really solve anything either (as noted by Tesla there have been no issues with the previous functionality). It feels like theatrics on behalf of the NHTSA.

I think from a regulatory perspective, the difference is intended use. Stock music speakers are designed to direct sound into the car. Users can roll down the windows and turn the music up high enough to hear outside the car, but most people don't and trying to stop people from doing it is a fool's errand.

Boombox is intended by the manufacturer to play sounds outside the car, so it's checked for interference with regulations.

Kind of like how many wifi routers are capable of violating FCC guidelines on channels and transmit strength, but aren't classified as signal jammers because that's not what they're intended for.

In my opinion, it's probably a thing worth fixing. I wouldn't expect it to cause mass loss of life, but it might save a person or two in unlikely scenarios, and it should be easy to fix with an OTA update.

Not swapped. The pedestrian warning sound got played on top of the arbitrary MP3.

What’s the principle that lead to this feature? I’m not knowledgeable in Tesla’s/Musk’s principles.

Tesla is reckless when it comes to pushing out half baked features, because OTA software updates allows them to ask for forgiveness later. They move faster than the NHTSA can respond.

Sounds something like a custom ringtone for the car to play when it’s driving itself to you.

From the recall notice:

"While Boombox can enhance the conspicuity of the vehicle to pedestrians, a vehicle that uses Boombox […] may cause the PWS [Pedestrian warning system] to be noncompliant with FMVSS 141, which could increase the risk of a collision."

"[S]ounds emitted using Boombox could be construed to obscure or prevent the PWS from complying […]."

Link to NHTSA recall notice PDF: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2022/RCLRPT-22V235-8842.PDF

This seems really petty. How is this different from playing music over the inside sound system?

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