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American vehicle safety authorities have commenced an examination into Tesla vehicles equipped with the autonomous driving system due to safety regulation breaches following multiple accidents.

Safety Agency Finds Safety Regulation Breaches

The federal safety agency stated that the automaker's self-driving assistance system, which demands drivers to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had caused car behavior that violated road safety regulations”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA represents the initial phase before potentially seeking a recall of the vehicles if the agency concludes they pose a risk to public safety.

Alarming Incident Reports

The regulatory body reported it had received reports of 2.88 million Tesla vehicles running red lights and traveling against the wrong direction during lane switching while operating the system.

NHTSA confirmed it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, operating with FSD activated, “came to an junction with a red light, proceeded to drive into the intersection against the red signal and was later involved in a collision with other cars in the junction”.

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

Further Safety Concerns

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 complaints and one media report alleging that Tesla cars, operating at an intersection with FSD engaged, did not stay stopped 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 vehicle interface”.

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

Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny

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

In October 2024, the authority started an inquiry into over two million Tesla vehicles using FSD after four documented crashes in situations of reduced visibility, such as sun glare, fog or airborne dust. One such accident, in last year, was fatal.

Manufacturer's Official Stance

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

Self-driving car systems continue to face increased scrutiny from safety agencies as the systems develop and real-world testing reveals potential challenges with existing deployments.