🔗 Share this article

American vehicle safety authorities have commenced an probe into Tesla cars equipped with the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches after several collisions.

Safety Agency Finds Traffic Law Violations

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires drivers to stay alert and take control when necessary, had “induced car behavior that violated road safety regulations”.

This early investigation by the NHTSA marks the first step before potentially requesting a withdrawal of the cars if the agency concludes they pose a risk to public safety.

Alarming Case Findings

The regulatory body reported it had documented reports of 2.88 million Tesla vehicles running red traffic lights and moving in the wrong direction during lane changes while operating the technology.

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, using FSD activated, “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, proceeded to travel into the crossroads despite the red signal and was later part of a collision with other cars in the junction”.

The agency noted that four accidents had caused injuries to occupants.

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 reports and one news account alleging that Tesla cars, driving through an intersection with FSD engaged, did not stay stationary for the duration of a red light, did not come to complete stop, or did not properly recognize and display the correct traffic signal state in the car's display”.

Several reporters also stated that FSD “failed to give alerts of the technology's intended actions as the vehicle was coming to a red traffic signal”.

Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny

The full self-driving system, which is more sophisticated than its Autopilot system, has been under investigation by NHTSA for a year.

In October 2024, the authority started an investigation into over two million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD after four documented crashes in situations of reduced visibility, such as bright sunlight, fog or dust clouds. One such accident, in last year, was deadly.

Company's Official Stance

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “intended for operation by a completely alert driver, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is ready to assume control at any moment. While these features are engineered to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not render the vehicle autonomous.”

Automated vehicle technology continue to face growing examination from safety agencies as the systems develop and practical implementation reveals possible issues with current implementations.