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American vehicle safety authorities have opened an investigation into Tesla vehicles equipped with the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches following multiple crashes.

Regulatory Body Identifies Safety Regulation Violations

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that the automaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands drivers to stay alert and take control when necessary, had “induced car behavior that violated road safety regulations”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA represents the first step before potentially seeking a recall of the cars if the authority concludes they present a danger to road safety.

Alarming Incident Reports

The agency stated it had documented reports of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles running red lights and traveling against the wrong direction during lane changes while operating the technology.

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, using FSD activated, “approached an junction with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the crossroads against the red light and was later part of a collision with other motor vehicles in the junction”.

The authority reported that four crashes had caused one or more injuries.

Additional Safety Concerns

The NHTSA announced it has found 18 reports and one media report alleging that Tesla cars, operating at an junction with FSD active, did not stay stationary for the duration of a red light, failed to stop fully, or did not properly recognize and show the correct traffic signal state in the car's display”.

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

Ongoing Official Examination

The full self-driving system, which is more advanced than its basic autopilot feature, has been under investigation by NHTSA for twelve months.

In October 2024, the agency started an investigation into over two million Tesla cars using FSD after four documented crashes in situations of reduced visibility, such as bright sunlight, mist or dust clouds. One of these collisions, in last year, was fatal.

Manufacturer's Official Stance

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to assume control at any time. While these capabilities are designed to become more capable, the presently active functions do not render the car autonomous.”

Self-driving car systems continue to face growing examination from safety agencies as the technology advances and real-world testing reveals possible issues with existing deployments.