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

Regulatory Body Identifies Traffic Law Violations

The federal safety agency declared that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands motorists to stay alert and take control when necessary, had “induced car behavior that breached road safety regulations”.

This early investigation by the NHTSA represents the first step before potentially requesting a withdrawal of the cars if the authority concludes they present a danger to public safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

The agency stated it had documented accounts of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles driving through red lights and traveling in the wrong way during lane changes while operating the technology.

NHTSA confirmed it has six documented cases in which a Tesla vehicle, using FSD activated, “came to an junction with a red light, continued to travel into the intersection despite the red light and was subsequently involved in a collision with other motor vehicles in the junction”.

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

Additional Safety Concerns

The NHTSA stated it has identified 18 complaints and one media report alleging that Tesla vehicles, driving through 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 correct light status in the car's display”.

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

Continuing Official Examination

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

In October 2024, the authority started an investigation into over two million Tesla cars using FSD after four documented crashes in conditions of reduced visibility, such as bright sunlight, mist or dust clouds. One of these collisions, in last year, was fatal.

Manufacturer's Official Stance

Tesla's website states 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 capabilities are engineered to become more capable, the presently active features do not make the car self-driving.”

Self-driving vehicle technology continue to face increased scrutiny from safety agencies as the technology advances and real-world testing reveals potential challenges with current implementations.