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American vehicle safety authorities have commenced an examination into Tesla cars featuring the autonomous driving system due to traffic-safety violations after numerous accidents.

Regulatory Body Identifies Traffic Law Violations

The NHTSA stated that the automaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands drivers to stay alert and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that violated road safety regulations”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA represents the first step before possibly seeking a withdrawal of the vehicles if the agency concludes they present a danger to road safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

The agency reported it had documented reports of 2.88 million Tesla cars running red lights and traveling in the wrong direction during lane switching while operating the system.

NHTSA confirmed it has six reports in which a Tesla car, operating with FSD activated, “came to an junction with a red light, continued to drive into the intersection despite the red signal and was later involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”.

The agency reported that four accidents had resulted in one or more injuries.

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 complaints and one news account claiming that Tesla vehicles, operating at an junction with FSD active, did not stay stopped for the entire time of a red light, did not come to complete stop, or did not properly recognize and show the proper light status in the car's display”.

Some complainants also stated that FSD “did not provide warnings of the system's intended behaviour as the vehicle was coming to a red light”.

Continuing Regulatory Scrutiny

Tesla's FSD, 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 cars using FSD after four documented crashes in conditions of poor visibility, such as sun glare, fog or dust clouds. One of these collisions, in last year, was deadly.

Manufacturer's Stated Position

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any time. While these features are engineered to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not make the car autonomous.”

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