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American vehicle safety authorities have commenced an investigation into Tesla vehicles equipped with the full self-driving technology due to traffic-safety violations after numerous crashes.

Safety Agency Identifies Safety Regulation Violations

The federal safety agency stated that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires drivers to stay alert and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that breached traffic safety laws”.

This early investigation by the NHTSA marks the first step before possibly seeking a recall of the cars if the agency determines they pose a risk to road safety.

Alarming Incident Reports

The agency reported it had documented reports of 2.88 million Tesla cars running red traffic lights and moving in the wrong way during lane changes while using the system.

NHTSA confirmed it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, using full self-driving engaged, “approached an junction with a red traffic signal, continued to drive into the intersection despite the red light and was subsequently involved in a collision with other motor vehicles in the junction”.

The agency noted that four accidents had caused one or more injuries.

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has identified 18 reports and one media report claiming that Tesla vehicles, operating at an intersection with FSD active, did not stay stationary for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or did not properly recognize and show the correct traffic signal state in the vehicle interface”.

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

Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny

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

In late 2024, the agency started an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles using FSD after four documented crashes in situations of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, fog or airborne dust. One of these collisions, in last year, was fatal.

Manufacturer's Stated Position

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “intended for operation by a completely alert motorist, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is prepared to take over at any time. While these capabilities are engineered to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not render the car self-driving.”

Automated car systems continue to face increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies as the systems develop and real-world testing reveals possible issues with existing deployments.