Musk’s cost-cutting DOGE lays off workers at agency that oversees Tesla Inc.
The Tesla CEO has said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is slowing progress on autonomous vehicles
Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team is eliminating jobs at the vehicle safety agency that oversees his Tesla Inc., regulates the autonomous vehicles he says represents its future and has launched investigations into deadly crashes involving the Texas-based company’s cars.
RELATED: Tesla is safest in world, says driver whose Cybertruck self-drove into pole
The losses touch on many aspects of the safety administration’s work, the Washington Post reported: an engineer who worked with crash test dummies, employees who work with states on safety grant funding and a research psychologist focused on drunken driving and speeding.
The Tesla CEO has accused the agency of holding back progress on self-driving technology with its investigations into crashes and recalls of vehicles.
Musk’s cost-cutting DOGE lays off workers at agency that oversees Tesla Inc.
The Tesla CEO has said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is slowing progress on autonomous vehicles
Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team is eliminating jobs at the vehicle safety agency that oversees his Tesla Inc., regulates the autonomous vehicles he says represents its future and has launched investigations into deadly crashes involving the Texas-based company’s cars.
RELATED: Tesla is safest in world, says driver whose Cybertruck self-drove into pole
The losses touch on many aspects of the safety administration’s work, the Washington Post reported: an engineer who worked with crash test dummies, employees who work with states on safety grant funding and a research psychologist focused on drunken driving and speeding.
The Tesla CEO has accused the agency of holding back progress on self-driving technology with its investigations into crashes and recalls of vehicles.
Asked whether the cuts would impact any probes into Tesla, the agency referred to its statement, which says it will “enforce the law on all manufacturers of motor vehicles and equipment.” On Friday, Tesla recalled more than 375,000 vehicles due to a power steering issue. The safety administration said a circuit board may become overstressed, causing a loss of steering assist after a stop.
In addition to investigations into Tesla’s partially automated vehicles, the agency has mandated that Tesla and other automakers using self-driving technology report crash data on vehicles, a requirement that Tesla has criticized and that watchdogs fear could be eliminated by the Trump administration.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has cut a “modest” amount of positions at the agency, which is tasked with ensuring safety on U.S. roads, it said in a statement Saturday.
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The loss of three of the seven members of the specialized unit overseeing autonomous vehicles is part of a 10% overall workforce reduction at the agency enacted by Musk’s advisory group on shrinking the federal government, the Department of Government Efficiency.
RELATED: Tesla is safest in world, says driver whose Cybertruck self-drove into pole
The losses touch on many aspects of the safety administration’s work, the Washington Post reported: an engineer who worked with crash test dummies, employees who work with states on safety grant funding and a research psychologist focused on drunken driving and speeding.
The Tesla CEO has accused the agency of holding back progress on self-driving technology with its investigations into crashes and recalls of vehicles.
Asked whether the cuts would impact any probes into Tesla, the agency referred to its statement, which says it will “enforce the law on all manufacturers of motor vehicles and equipment.” On Friday, Tesla recalled more than 375,000 vehicles due to a power steering issue. The safety administration said a circuit board may become overstressed, causing a loss of steering assist after a stop.
In addition to investigations into Tesla’s partially automated vehicles, the agency has mandated that Tesla and other automakers using self-driving technology report crash data on vehicles, a requirement that Tesla has criticized and that watchdogs fear could be eliminated by the Trump administration.
RELATED: Feds cite Tesla over worker’s death at Texas factory
The staff reductions at the agency have come through a combination of firings, buyouts and layoffs. It noted in its statement that the Biden administration had expanded its payroll, suggesting the smaller staff was sufficient to carry out its mission.
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“Even with these modest efficiencies, NHTSA is still considerably larger today than it was four years ago,” the statement said. “We have retained positions critical to the mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing economic costs due to road traffic crashes.”
Tesla is based in Austin, where it operates a factory that builds the company’s Cybertruck, Model Y and is developing battery technology
