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US automobile safety regulators have commenced an probe into Tesla vehicles equipped with the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches following several accidents.

Regulatory Body Finds Traffic Law Breaches

The federal safety agency stated that the automaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires motorists to stay alert and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that breached traffic safety laws”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA marks the initial phase before possibly requesting a recall of the vehicles if the agency concludes they pose a risk to road safety.

Concerning Case Findings

The agency stated it had documented accounts of 2.88 million Tesla cars driving through red traffic lights and traveling against the wrong direction during lane changes while operating the technology.

NHTSA stated it has six reports in which a Tesla car, using FSD activated, “approached an junction with a red traffic signal, continued to drive into the intersection despite the red light and was later involved in a crash with other cars in the junction”.

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

Additional Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 complaints and one news account claiming that Tesla cars, driving through an intersection with FSD active, “failed to remain stationary for the entire time of a red traffic signal, did not come to complete stop, or failed to accurately detect and show the correct traffic signal state in the car's display”.

Some complainants also claimed that FSD “did not provide warnings of the system's planned behaviour as the car was coming to a red traffic signal”.

Continuing Regulatory Scrutiny

Tesla's FSD, which is more sophisticated than its basic autopilot feature, has been under investigation by NHTSA for twelve months.

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

Manufacturer's Official Stance

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

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