Back in September of 2018, the SEC sued Elon Musk over tweets in which the agency claimed he had made “false and misleading statements.” The issue involved statements Musk had made about potentially taking Tesla private, and funding for that effort which he told his followers was “secured.”
Now another federal agency is coming for Musk over statements he’s made regarding Tesla. This time, it’s the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency is upset over Musk’s claims that the Model 3 sedan Tesla is building has the “lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested.”
Fox Business reports:
The agency’s guidelines “warn against comparison statements like these because such statements mislead consumers about the relative safety of different vehicle models,” Jonathan Morrison, NHTSA’s chief counsel, wrote in an Oct. 17 letter to Musk.
“To say that Tesla’s midsize sedan has a lower probability of injury than, say, a larger SUV could be interpreted as misunderstanding safety data, an intention to mislead the public, or both,” he added.
In the response, Tesla’s deputy general counsel denied that the statements were misleading or untrue, given that the Model 3’s score has been unmatched by other vehicles.
“We do not see a reason to discontinue use of our safety blog or these statements as long as no other vehicle surpasses the Model 3 Long Range RWD’s Vehicle Safety Score and overall probability of injury,” wrote Al Prescott. “We had hoped the NHTSA would welcome such an achievement.”
A Tesla spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Read more here.