🔗 Share this article

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

Safety Agency Finds Traffic Law Breaches

The federal safety agency declared that the automaker's self-driving assistance system, which requires drivers to stay alert and intervene if needed, had caused car behavior that violated road safety regulations”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA represents the initial phase before possibly requesting a withdrawal of the cars if the agency determines they present a danger to public safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

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

NHTSA stated it has six reports in which a Tesla car, using full self-driving activated, “approached an junction with a red light, proceeded to drive into the intersection against the red light and was subsequently part of a crash with other cars in the junction”.

The authority reported that four crashes had resulted in one or more injuries.

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA stated it has found 18 complaints and one media report claiming that Tesla vehicles, operating at an intersection with FSD active, did not stay stopped for the entire time of a red traffic signal, did not come to complete stop, or did not properly recognize and show the proper traffic signal state in the car's display”.

Some complainants also stated that FSD “did not provide warnings of the technology's planned actions as the car was approaching a red traffic signal”.

Continuing Regulatory Scrutiny

The full self-driving system, which is more advanced than its Autopilot system, has been under investigation by NHTSA for twelve months.

In late 2024, the agency began an inquiry into over two million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD after four documented crashes in situations of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, fog or dust clouds. One of these collisions, in 2023, was fatal.

Company's Stated Position

Tesla's website states that FSD is “intended for use with a completely alert driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment. While these features are designed to improve over time, the currently enabled functions do not make the car self-driving.”

Automated car systems continue to face growing examination from safety agencies as the systems develop and practical implementation reveals possible issues with existing deployments.