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American vehicle safety authorities have started an investigation into Tesla vehicles featuring the autonomous driving system due to traffic-safety violations after numerous collisions.

Safety Agency Finds Traffic Law Breaches

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires motorists to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had “induced vehicle behaviour that violated traffic safety laws”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA marks the first step before possibly requesting a withdrawal of the vehicles if the agency concludes they present a danger to road safety.

Alarming Incident Reports

The regulatory body reported it had documented accounts of 2.88 million Tesla cars driving through red traffic lights and traveling against the incorrect direction during lane changes while operating the system.

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, using full self-driving activated, “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to drive into the intersection against the red signal and was later involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”.

The authority reported that four accidents had resulted in injuries to occupants.

Additional Issues Identified

The NHTSA stated it has identified 18 complaints and one media report claiming that Tesla cars, driving through an junction with FSD active, did not stay stationary for the duration of a red light, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and show the correct traffic signal state in the car's display”.

Some complainants also stated that FSD “did not provide warnings of the technology's intended behaviour as the vehicle was coming to a red traffic signal”.

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 authority began an investigation into over two million Tesla vehicles using FSD after four documented crashes in situations of reduced visibility, such as sun glare, fog or dust clouds. One of these collisions, in 2023, was deadly.

Company's Stated Position

Tesla's website states that FSD is “intended for use with a fully attentive motorist, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is ready to assume control at any moment. While these capabilities are engineered to improve over time, the currently enabled functions do not render the car autonomous.”

Automated car systems continue to face increased scrutiny from safety agencies as the systems develop and practical implementation reveals possible issues with existing deployments.