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American vehicle safety authorities have commenced an probe into Tesla cars equipped with the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches following several crashes.

Safety Agency Identifies Traffic Law Violations

The NHTSA declared that the automaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires drivers to stay alert and take control when necessary, had caused car behavior that violated traffic safety laws”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA represents the first step before potentially requesting a withdrawal of the vehicles if the authority concludes they pose a risk to public safety.

Alarming Case Findings

The regulatory body stated it had documented accounts of 2.88 million Tesla cars driving through red lights and moving in the incorrect direction during lane switching while operating the technology.

NHTSA confirmed it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, operating with FSD activated, “approached an intersection with a red light, proceeded to drive into the crossroads against the red signal and was later part of a collision with other cars in the intersection”.

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

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA stated it has identified 18 complaints and one media report claiming that Tesla vehicles, operating at an junction with FSD active, did not stay stopped for the duration of a red light, did not come to complete stop, or failed to accurately detect and display the proper light status in the car's display”.

Some complainants also stated that FSD “failed to give alerts of the technology's planned actions as the car was approaching a red light”.

Ongoing Official Examination

Tesla's FSD, which is more sophisticated than its Autopilot system, has been being examined by NHTSA for twelve months.

In October 2024, the agency began an inquiry into over two million Tesla cars using FSD after four reported collisions in situations of poor visibility, such as sun glare, mist or airborne dust. One such accident, in last year, was deadly.

Manufacturer's Stated Position

Tesla's website states that FSD is “designed 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 capabilities 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 current implementations.