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American vehicle safety authorities have started an probe into Tesla cars equipped with the autonomous driving system due to traffic-safety violations following multiple collisions.

Safety Agency Finds Traffic Law Violations

The federal safety agency announced that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands motorists to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had caused car behavior that violated road safety regulations”.

This early investigation by the NHTSA marks the initial phase before possibly seeking a withdrawal of the vehicles if the authority determines they pose a risk to public safety.

Alarming Incident Reports

The regulatory body reported it had documented reports of nearly 3 million Tesla cars driving through red lights and traveling in the wrong direction during lane switching while using the system.

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, operating with full self-driving activated, “came to an intersection with a red light, proceeded to travel into the intersection despite the red signal and was later part of a crash with other cars in the intersection”.

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

Additional Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has identified 18 complaints and one media report claiming that Tesla cars, operating at an intersection with FSD engaged, “failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, did not come to complete stop, or did not properly recognize and display the correct traffic signal state in the vehicle interface”.

Several reporters also claimed that FSD “failed to give alerts of the technology's planned behaviour as the car was approaching a red light”.

Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny

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

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

Manufacturer's Stated Position

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “intended for operation by a fully attentive motorist, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is ready to take over at any time. While these capabilities are engineered to improve over time, the currently enabled features do not render the car self-driving.”

Self-driving car systems continue to face increased scrutiny from safety agencies as the technology advances and real-world testing reveals possible issues with current implementations.