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

Safety Agency Finds Traffic Law Breaches

The federal safety agency announced that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands motorists to remain attentive and take control when necessary, had caused vehicle behaviour that violated road safety regulations”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA represents the first step before potentially seeking a withdrawal of the cars if the authority concludes they present a danger to road safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

The agency reported it had received reports of nearly 3 million Tesla cars running red traffic lights and traveling in the wrong way during lane switching while using the system.

NHTSA confirmed it has six reports in which a Tesla vehicle, using FSD engaged, “approached an junction with a red light, continued to travel into the intersection despite the red signal and was later part of a collision with other motor vehicles in the intersection”.

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

Additional Safety Concerns

The NHTSA stated it has identified 18 complaints and one media report alleging that Tesla cars, operating at an junction with FSD active, “failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, did not come to complete stop, or did not properly recognize and show the correct light status in the vehicle interface”.

Several reporters also claimed that FSD “did not provide warnings of the technology's planned actions as the vehicle was approaching a red light”.

Continuing Regulatory Scrutiny

The full self-driving system, which is more sophisticated than its basic autopilot feature, has been being examined by NHTSA for twelve months.

In late 2024, the authority started an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla cars using FSD after four documented crashes in situations of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, fog or airborne dust. One of these collisions, in last year, was fatal.

Company's Stated Position

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “intended for operation by a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is ready to take over at any time. While these features are designed to become more capable, the presently active functions do not make 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 existing deployments.