🔗 Share this article

American vehicle safety authorities have started an probe into Tesla vehicles equipped with the autonomous driving system due to safety regulation breaches after several accidents.

Regulatory Body Identifies Safety Regulation Breaches

The federal safety agency announced that the automaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands motorists to stay alert and intervene if needed, had caused car behavior that breached road safety regulations”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA marks the initial phase before possibly requesting a withdrawal of the cars if the authority concludes they pose a risk to road safety.

Alarming Case Findings

The agency reported it had received accounts of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles running red lights and moving in the incorrect way during lane changes while operating the system.

NHTSA stated it has six reports in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with full self-driving activated, “approached an junction with a red light, proceeded to drive into the crossroads despite the red light and was subsequently part of a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”.

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

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 reports and one news account claiming that Tesla vehicles, driving through an junction with FSD active, “failed to remain stopped for the entire time of a red traffic signal, did not come to complete stop, or did not properly recognize and display the correct traffic signal state in the car's display”.

Some complainants also claimed that FSD “failed to give alerts of the system's planned actions as the vehicle was coming to a red light”.

Ongoing Official Examination

The full self-driving system, which is more advanced than its basic autopilot feature, has been under investigation by NHTSA for a year.

In October 2024, the authority began an inquiry into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles using FSD after four documented crashes in conditions of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, fog or dust clouds. One of these collisions, in last year, was fatal.

Manufacturer's Stated Position

Tesla's website states that FSD is “designed for operation by a completely alert driver, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is ready to assume control at any time. While these capabilities are engineered to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle self-driving.”

Self-driving vehicle technology continue to face increased scrutiny from safety agencies as the systems develop and practical implementation reveals possible issues with existing deployments.