The California Department of Motor Vehicles put forth proposed regulations that would, in effect, prohibit Tesla from using the Autopilot name to market its vehicles. Now, a consumer group is telling the DMV to get on with it. Tesla uses the word Autopilot to describe its driver-assist technology, which, when enabled, automatically steers, brakes and passes other vehicles. Consumer Watchdog, based in Santa Monica, contends Tesla is misleading consumers by exaggerating Autopilot's capabilities. The DMV should "enact a regulation protecting consumers from misleading advertising that leaves the dangerous -- and sometimes fatal -- impression that a car is more capable of driving itself than is actually the case," John M. Simpson, privacy policy director at Consumer Watchdog, said in a Nov. 23 letter to the agency's director, Jean Shiomoto.

USA TODAY tech reporter Marco della Cava takes his hands off the wheel of a Tesla Model S sedan while driving down the 280 Freeway north of the Tesla's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. Pressure is building on Tesla Motors in Europe to stop using the name "Autopilot" to designate its partial self-driving system -- and the concerns could reverberate to the U.S. The issue is that Tesla's designation can encourage drivers to put too much reliance on Autopilot to protect them from crashing and not pay proper attention behind the wheel. Although Tesla says it repeatedly tells drivers that they need to stay in charge, a Tesla owner was killed in May when his car broadsided a tractor-trailer that turned in front of him. The Autopilot system was engaged at the time. Over the weekend, it was reported that Germany's Transport Ministry sent a letter to the California-based automaker telling it to stop using the name in advertising.