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American vehicle safety authorities have opened an examination into Tesla cars featuring the autonomous driving system due to safety regulation breaches following numerous collisions.

Regulatory Body Identifies Safety Regulation Violations

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that the electric carmaker's self-driving assistance system, which requires motorists to stay alert and take control when necessary, had caused car behavior that breached traffic safety laws”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA represents the initial phase before potentially seeking a recall of the vehicles if the agency concludes they pose a risk to road safety.

Alarming Incident Reports

The regulatory body reported it had received accounts of nearly 3 million Tesla cars running red lights and traveling against the incorrect way during lane switching while operating the technology.

NHTSA confirmed it has six reports in which a Tesla car, using FSD engaged, “came to an junction with a red light, proceeded to travel into the crossroads despite the red signal and was subsequently part of a collision with other cars in the junction”.

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

Additional Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has identified 18 complaints and one media report claiming that Tesla vehicles, operating at an intersection with FSD active, “failed to remain stopped for the entire time of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or did not properly recognize and display the proper traffic signal state in the vehicle interface”.

Some complainants also stated that FSD “failed to give alerts of the technology's planned behaviour as the car was coming to a red light”.

Continuing Official Examination

Tesla's FSD, which is more sophisticated than its basic autopilot feature, has been being examined by NHTSA for twelve months.

In late 2024, the authority began an inquiry into over two million Tesla cars using FSD after four reported collisions in situations of reduced visibility, such as sun glare, fog or dust clouds. One of these collisions, in 2023, was fatal.

Manufacturer's Official Stance

Tesla's website states that FSD is “intended for operation by a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to assume control at any time. While these features are engineered to improve over time, the currently enabled features do not render the car self-driving.”

Automated car systems continue to face growing examination from regulatory bodies as the systems develop and real-world testing reveals potential challenges with existing deployments.