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American vehicle safety authorities have opened an examination into Tesla vehicles equipped with the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches after several accidents.

Safety Agency Identifies Safety Regulation Breaches

The NHTSA announced that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands motorists to stay alert and intervene if needed, had “induced vehicle behaviour that violated traffic safety laws”.

This early investigation by the NHTSA marks the first step before potentially requesting a withdrawal of the vehicles if the agency determines they pose a risk to road safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

The agency reported it had received reports of 2.88 million Tesla cars driving through red traffic lights and moving in the incorrect direction during lane changes while operating the system.

NHTSA stated it has six reports in which a Tesla car, operating with full self-driving engaged, “came to an intersection with a red light, proceeded to travel into the crossroads against the red light and was subsequently part of a crash with other cars in the junction”.

The agency reported that four crashes had caused one or more injuries.

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 complaints and one media report claiming that Tesla cars, operating at an intersection 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 car's display”.

Several reporters also stated that FSD “did not provide alerts of the system's planned behaviour as the car was coming to a red light”.

Continuing Regulatory Scrutiny

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

In late 2024, the agency began an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD after four documented crashes in situations of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, mist or airborne dust. One of these collisions, in last year, was deadly.

Company's Stated Position

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “intended for operation by a completely alert 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 currently enabled features do not make the vehicle self-driving.”

Automated car systems continue to face increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies as the technology advances and practical implementation reveals possible issues with existing deployments.