American consumer advocate Ralph Nader has called for the withdrawal of the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature in Tesla vehicles due to its “dangerous and irresponsible actions”.

Nader said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should require the automaker to turn off FSD on every vehicle.

“I urge federal regulators to take immediate action to prevent the rise in deaths and injuries from Tesla’s manslaughter using this technology,” he said.

Nader noted that more than 100,000 vehicle owners participated in the FSD beta testing on public roads. In total, Tesla operates around 3 million vehicles worldwide.

The advocate insists NHTSA must act before the robotic car kills someone else.

“We must send an urgent message to regulators that Americans should not be guinea pigs for a powerful, well-known company and its famous CEO. No one is above the manslaughter laws,” Neider added.

Earlier, NHTSA compiled a list of special accident investigations (SCIs), in which the agency collects data on accidents beyond the competence of local authorities and insurance companies. The agency is also investigating incidents involving advanced driver assistance systems such as Tesla Autopilot and self-driving systems.

To date, there are 48 accidents on the SCI list. 39 cases involved Tesla vehicles using autopilot. According to the agency, 19 people died in these crashes, including drivers, passengers, pedestrians, as well as drivers of other vehicles.

Also, on August 8, 2022, the California Department of Transportation accused the automaker of using unfair advertising for Autopilot and FSD features. According to the department, their names and descriptions suggest complete autonomy, which is actually not true.

Recall that in June, NHTSA chief Stephen Cliff announced his plans to develop federal regulations for drones.

That same month, the agency continued its investigation into Tesla, launching an “engineering analysis” phase.

In August 2021, senators urged the US Chamber of Commerce to launch an investigation into the automaker for “misleading advertising and marketing.”