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American vehicle safety authorities have commenced an probe into Tesla vehicles equipped with the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches after numerous collisions.

Safety Agency Finds Safety Regulation Breaches

The federal safety agency declared that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires drivers to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had “induced vehicle behaviour that breached road safety regulations”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA represents the initial phase before potentially seeking a withdrawal of the cars if the agency concludes they present a danger to public safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

The regulatory body reported it had documented accounts of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles driving through red lights and traveling against the wrong direction during lane switching while operating the technology.

NHTSA confirmed it has six reports in which a Tesla car, using full self-driving activated, “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, proceeded to travel into the crossroads despite the red signal and was later involved in a crash with other cars in the junction”.

The agency reported that four crashes had resulted in injuries to occupants.

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA stated it has found 18 complaints and one media report alleging that Tesla cars, driving through an junction with FSD engaged, did not stay stationary for the duration of a red traffic signal, 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 “did not provide alerts of the technology's planned behaviour as the vehicle was approaching a red light”.

Continuing Regulatory Scrutiny

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

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

Company's Stated Position

Tesla's website states that FSD is “intended for operation by a completely alert driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment. While these capabilities are designed to improve over time, the currently enabled features do not render the vehicle autonomous.”

Automated vehicle technology continue to face growing examination from regulatory bodies as the systems develop and practical implementation reveals possible issues with existing deployments.