Why security regulators closed their investigation into Tesla’s distant parking function

U.S. auto safety regulators closed its investigation into Tesla’s remote parking feature, known as “Actually Smart Summon,” after finding crashes were rare, at low speed, and not severe.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in its update on Friday that its closing of the investigation does not constitute a finding that a safety-related defect does not exist, and said it can reopen it.

The remote parking feature, which was released via a software update in September 2024, allows owners to use their Tesla app to direct the vehicle to drive itself to them at low speeds, using only the car’s cameras. The release was notable at the time because the previous version, Smart Summon, also used ultrasonic sensors, which are no longer on newer Tesla vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened the investigation in January 2025 after reports of dozens of crashes involving the “Actually Smart Summon” feature. The investigation found that out of millions of Summon sessions, a fraction of 1% resulted in an incident, which typically involved minor property damage like hitting gates, parked cars, or bollards.

There were also “no reported incidents involving a vulnerable road user, injury, fatality, or major property damage as indicated by an air bag deployment or vehicle tow away,” according to the report.

NHTSA found that either the person or the system using the app failed to fully detect surroundings, often due to limited visibility in the app’s camera view. Some incidents were caused by snow obstructing the camera, which the system failed to detect.

Tesla has issued a number of software updates to improve camera blockage detection and object recognition, according to NHTSA.