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

Regulatory Body Finds Traffic Law Violations

The federal safety agency declared that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands drivers to stay alert and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that violated road safety regulations”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA represents the initial phase before possibly requesting a withdrawal of the cars if the agency concludes they present a danger to road safety.

Concerning Case Findings

The agency reported it had documented accounts of 2.88 million Tesla vehicles running red lights and moving in the incorrect direction during lane switching while using the technology.

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, operating with FSD engaged, “came to an intersection with a red light, proceeded to travel into the intersection against the red light and was later involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”.

The authority reported that four crashes had caused injuries to occupants.

Additional Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 complaints and one media report alleging that Tesla vehicles, operating at an intersection with FSD engaged, did not stay stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, did not come to complete stop, or did not properly recognize and display the correct traffic signal state in the car's display”.

Some complainants also claimed that FSD “did not provide alerts of the technology's intended behaviour as the car was approaching a red light”.

Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny

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

In October 2024, the authority started an inquiry into 2.4 million Tesla cars using FSD after four documented crashes in situations of reduced visibility, such as sun glare, fog or airborne dust. One of these collisions, in 2023, was fatal.

Manufacturer's Official Stance

Tesla's website states that FSD is “designed for operation by a completely alert motorist, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is ready to assume control at any moment. While these features are designed to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not make the car autonomous.”

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