'Fun police' force Tesla's 11th recall in US in just over three months

Elon Musk apparently isn’t pleased with pressure the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration put on Tesla to conduct its 11th recall in the US in just over three months.

Asked by a Twitter follower what the rationale was for recalling a feature called Boombox, which enabled people to play sounds through an external speaker of their vehicle, Tesla’s chief executive officer replied: “The fun police made us do it (sigh).”

Tesla told NHTSA on February 4 that it would disable Boombox when its vehicles are in drive, neutral or reverse, to comply with a safety standard requiring electric cars to emit sounds that alert pedestrians. In its recall report, the company said NHTSA asked for information in January 2021 to investigate whether the feature complied with the safety standard. Tesla decided to conduct a voluntary recall after months of back-and-forth with the agency, according to the report.

Tesla shares fell as much as 3.1 per cent to $833.66 before the start of regular trading Monday. The stock has declined 19 per cent this year.

Musk has repeatedly clashed with US regulators, directing much of his ire at the Securities and Exchange Commission. He has said he doesn’t respect the SEC and came up with derisive and profane plays on the agency’s initials since it charged him with securities fraud over his August 2018 claims about taking Tesla private.