🔗 Share this article

American vehicle safety authorities have commenced an investigation into Tesla cars equipped with the autonomous driving system due to safety regulation breaches following multiple collisions.

Safety Agency Identifies Safety Regulation Breaches

The federal safety agency announced that the electric carmaker's self-driving assistance system, which demands motorists to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had caused car behavior that violated traffic safety laws”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA represents the initial phase before possibly seeking a withdrawal of the vehicles if the agency concludes they present a danger to road safety.

Alarming Case Findings

The agency reported it had received accounts of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles running red traffic lights and traveling in the wrong way during lane switching while operating the technology.

NHTSA stated it has six reports in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with full self-driving engaged, “approached an intersection with a red light, continued to travel into the intersection despite the red light and was subsequently part of a collision with other cars in the intersection”.

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

Additional Safety Concerns

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 reports and one media report claiming that Tesla cars, operating at an junction with FSD engaged, did not stay stationary for the duration of a red light, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and show the correct traffic signal state in the vehicle interface”.

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

Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny

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

In late 2024, the agency started an inquiry into over two million Tesla cars equipped with FSD after four reported collisions in conditions of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, fog or dust clouds. One such accident, in 2023, was deadly.

Company's Stated Position

Tesla's website states that FSD is “designed for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any time. While these features are engineered to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

Self-driving vehicle technology continue to face growing examination from safety agencies as the systems develop and real-world testing reveals possible issues with current implementations.