Elon Musk slams 'fun police' as Tesla vehicles are recalled

Elon Musk speaks at a press conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

Elon Musk speaks at a press conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

Published Feb 15, 2022

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Elon Musk has blamed the "fun police" after Tesla has been forced to recall more than 500,000 vehicles with the Boombox feature.

The software update allows motorists to play preset or custom sounds from an external speaker that includes a bleating goat, fart noises and Christmas jingles.

However, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that while the feature can "enhance the conspicuity" of vehicles to pedestrians, cars that uses Boombox while in motion could "increase the risk of collision".

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) also prohibits car manufacturers from “altering or modifying the sound emitting capability of the pedestrian warning system (PWS), through which the pedestrian alert sounds emit".

The regulator added: “While Boombox and the pedestrian alert sound are mutually exclusive sounds, sounds emitted using Boombox could be construed to obscure or prevent the PWS from complying with FMVSS 141 when the vehicle is in motion."

The recall covers 2020 through 2022 Tesla Model X, S and Y vehicles as well as Model 3s from between 2017 and 2022.

Musk took aim at the "fun police" for forcing his company to recall the cars.

He tweeted: "The fun police made us do it (sigh)."

It is the fourth time that Tesla has had to recall vehicles in recent weeks as they were recently forced to recall thousands of cars after it was found that a software feature allows them to roll through stop signs.

The company insisted that the fault had not resulted in any collisions, injuries or fatalities.

Tesla chief Musk tweeted in response: "There were no safety issues. The car simply slowed to -2mph and continued forward if clear view with no cars or pedestrians".