🔗 Share this article

American vehicle safety authorities have commenced an probe into Tesla cars featuring the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches after multiple accidents.

Safety Agency Identifies Safety Regulation Violations

The federal safety agency announced that the automaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires drivers to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had caused car behavior that violated traffic safety laws”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA marks the first step before possibly requesting a recall of the vehicles if the authority determines they pose a risk to road safety.

Alarming Case Findings

The agency reported it had received reports of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles driving through red lights and traveling in the wrong way during lane switching while using the technology.

NHTSA confirmed it has six reports in which a Tesla vehicle, using FSD activated, “came to an junction with a red light, continued to drive into the crossroads despite the red signal and was later involved in a crash with other cars in the junction”.

The agency noted that four crashes had resulted in injuries to occupants.

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 reports and one media report claiming that Tesla vehicles, operating at an intersection with FSD active, “failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and display the proper light status in the car's display”.

Several reporters also claimed that FSD “did not provide alerts of the technology's intended behaviour as the car was coming to a red traffic signal”.

Continuing Regulatory Scrutiny

Tesla's FSD, which is more sophisticated than its basic autopilot feature, has been under investigation by NHTSA for a year.

In late 2024, the authority began an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla cars using FSD after four documented crashes in conditions of poor visibility, such as sun glare, mist or dust clouds. One of these collisions, in last year, was fatal.

Company's Stated Position

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “designed for use with a completely alert motorist, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is prepared to take over at any time. While these capabilities are designed to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not render the vehicle autonomous.”

Automated car systems continue to face increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies as the systems develop and practical implementation reveals possible issues with current implementations.