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NHTSA head nominee investigating Tesla raises alarm on rising US road deaths
Steven Cliff, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), vows to address the massive increase in US road deaths this year.
On December 16, Cliff told a senate panel that the United States has “seen an unprecedented rise in roadway fatalities. I am committed to turning this around.” The Biden nominee also stated that the US must learn “how to change a culture that accepts the loss of tens of thousands of people in roadway crashes as inevitable.”
In October, the US Department of Transportation’s NHTSA released a report, titled Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities for the First Half (January-June) of 2021. According to the NHTSA report, about 20,160 people died in motors vehicle crashes in the first half of 2021, up 18.4% compared to 2020. The NHTSA notes that 2021’s fatalities from vehicle crashes is the largest number of projected fatalities for the first half of a year since 2006.
An NHTSA behavioral research on March 2020 through June 2021 indicated an increasing number of drivers engaged in riskier behavior after the United States declared a public health emergency in March 2020. Riskier behavior included speeding, failure to wear a seatbelt, and driving under the influences of alcohol and drugs. The behavior continued through June 2021 and remained higher compared to pre-pandemic times.
US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg plans to produce the Department’s first-ever National Roadway Strategy to help decrease fatalities from motor vehicle crashes.
“This is a crisis. More than 20,000 people died on US roads in the first six months of 2021, leaving countless loved ones behind. We cannot and should not accept these fatalities as simply a part of everyday life in America. Today, we are announcing that we will produce the Department’s first-ever National Roadway Safety Strategy to identify action steps for everyone working to save lives on the road. No one will accomplish this alone. It will take all levels of government, industries, advocates, engineers, and communities across the country working together toward the day when family members no longer have to say goodbye to loved ones because of a traffic crash,” Buttigieg said in a press release.
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The National Roadway Safety Strategy will be released in January. It will be rooted in the Safe System Approach principles and identify significant actions the Department plans to ensure safer people, roads, and vehicles.
Apart from being US President Joe Biden’s nomination for NHTSA head, Steven Cliff also oversees an NHTSA investigation on Tesla and its Autopilot system. Cliff noted that the NHTSA hopes to “have those investigations wrapped up soon,” though he did state that he does not have a “specific timeline” in mind. “We’re gathering data now and we’ll determine what those next steps will be,” the NHTSA head nominee said.
Ironically, some emergency first responders believed the NHTSA’s focus on Tesla was quite counterproductive considering how dangerous American roads have become. And the opinions of first responders may carry some weight in the matter of fatalities from car accidents as many emergency personnel perish on the job on a frighteningly frequent basis.
For Cliff, though, the first step to decreasing deaths from car crashes would be to pass Biden’s infrastructure bill. He said the bill would increase the NHTSA’s budget by 50% and “will improve our understanding of where and how crashes happen by improving data quality and expanding electronic reporting to move from paper-based data collection systems to digital systems.”
The NHTSA’s report on the US’ traffic fatalities for the first half of 2021 could be viewed below.
Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities for the First Half (January–June) of 2021 by Maria Merano on Scribd
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Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.
As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.
Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:
New Animation Screen for 3/Y
Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.
The new animation screen on Model 3/Y with the 2026 Summer Update
Apparently color will also be customizable: pic.twitter.com/wSdwggtG3S
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 27, 2026
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Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.
Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.
Grok Improvements
Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:
@Tesla‘s AI assistant (Grok) with its new vehicle commands in action.
Set the climate, your destination and vehicle settings all in one go! pic.twitter.com/0bBTqaAk6G
— Not a Tesla App (@NotATeslaApp) July 28, 2026
You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.
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This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.
Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.
Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.
This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.
However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.
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Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?
While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.
AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.
This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.
Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.
Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.
But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:
Tesla has finally turned off the blinker/turn signal noises in their Model Y Robotaxis.
This is a small update, but will definitely be noticeable for riders. It didn’t really make much sense to leave the turn signal sound on when it’s Unsupervised. pic.twitter.com/ITwx60PAMO
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 27, 2026
However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.
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Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.
I kind of like it being on, threw me off when riding with Zoox who has had it disabled
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) July 27, 2026
Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.
The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.
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