American vehicle safety authorities have opened an examination into Tesla vehicles equipped with the autonomous driving system due to traffic-safety violations following several crashes.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that the automaker's self-driving assistance system, which demands motorists to stay alert and take control when necessary, had caused vehicle behaviour that violated traffic safety laws”.
This early investigation by the NHTSA marks the initial phase before potentially seeking a withdrawal of the cars if the authority concludes they pose a risk to road safety.
The agency reported it had documented accounts of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles running red traffic lights and traveling against the wrong direction during lane switching while using the technology.
NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla vehicle, using FSD activated, “came to an intersection with a red light, proceeded to travel into the intersection despite the red signal and was later involved in a collision with other cars in the intersection”.
The authority noted that four accidents had resulted in one or more injuries.
The NHTSA announced it has identified 18 reports and one news account claiming that Tesla cars, driving through an junction with FSD engaged, did not stay stationary for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and display the correct light status in the vehicle interface”.
Several reporters also claimed that FSD “did not provide alerts of the technology's planned behaviour as the vehicle was coming to a red light”.
Tesla's FSD, which is more sophisticated than its Autopilot system, has been under investigation by NHTSA for a year.
In late 2024, the authority began an investigation into over two million Tesla vehicles using FSD after four documented crashes in situations of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, mist or airborne dust. One of these collisions, in last year, was fatal.
Tesla's website states that FSD is “intended for operation by a completely alert motorist, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is ready to take over at any time. While these capabilities are designed to improve over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle self-driving.”
Self-driving vehicle technology continue to face growing examination from regulatory bodies as the systems develop and real-world testing reveals potential challenges with existing deployments.
