Second-fakest TSLAQ conspiracy theory ever (none can ever beat Whompy Wheels). Almost every single mass-market car out there has sudden unintended acceleration accusations against it, because people accidentally hit the pedal to hard when parking and then blame it on the car. Seriously, right now go try it - google "unintended acceleration <model name>".
Why does NHTSA do this, though? Why publicly announce investigations into things you haven't investigated yet? Are they trying to scare people away and hurt the stock?
My guess is that, as with any regulator, they don't get a prize if things go well, but will get punished if something goes wrong.
They know that many people cannot wait to put tesla on the spot, we even have senators calling for nhtsa to ban autopilot. So by looking into every crash and every complaint they cover their behinds might something happen.
They don't do the same with other car companies because nobody cares what other car companies do or don't, unless it's something really bad and then some.
The result is that tesla is kept at a much higher standard. Unfair and annoying on the short term, but in a way also a guarantee that things are indeed done properly.
