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American vehicle safety authorities have opened an probe into Tesla vehicles featuring the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches following multiple collisions.

Safety Agency Finds Safety Regulation Violations

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires drivers to stay alert and take control when necessary, had caused vehicle behaviour that breached road safety regulations”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA represents the first step before potentially seeking a recall of the vehicles if the authority determines they present a danger to road safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

The regulatory body stated it had received accounts of 2.88 million Tesla vehicles driving through red traffic lights and traveling against the incorrect direction during lane switching while using the technology.

NHTSA stated it has six reports in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD activated, “came to an junction with a red light, continued to drive into the intersection despite the red signal and was subsequently part of a collision with other motor vehicles in the junction”.

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

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA stated it has identified 18 reports and one news account claiming that Tesla vehicles, driving through an junction with FSD engaged, did not stay stationary for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or did not properly recognize and show the proper traffic signal state in the car's display”.

Several reporters also claimed that FSD “did not provide warnings of the system's intended 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 being examined by NHTSA for a year.

In late 2024, the agency started 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 dust clouds. One of these collisions, in 2023, was fatal.

Company's Official Stance

Tesla's website states that FSD is “designed for use with a fully attentive motorist, who has their hands on the wheel and is ready to assume control at any time. While these features are engineered to become more capable, the currently enabled functions do not make the car self-driving.”

Automated vehicle technology continue to face increased scrutiny from safety agencies as the systems develop and practical implementation reveals possible issues with existing deployments.