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American vehicle safety authorities have started an examination into Tesla cars equipped with the full self-driving technology due to safety regulation breaches after numerous collisions.

Safety Agency Identifies Safety Regulation Violations

The NHTSA stated that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands drivers to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that breached traffic safety laws”.

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

Concerning Case Findings

The regulatory body reported it had documented accounts of 2.88 million Tesla cars running red lights and traveling in the incorrect way during lane changes while operating the system.

NHTSA confirmed it has six reports in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD activated, “came to an intersection with a red light, proceeded to travel into the crossroads against the red signal and was later involved in a collision with other cars in the intersection”.

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

Additional Safety Concerns

The NHTSA announced it has identified 18 complaints and one media report claiming that Tesla cars, operating at an junction with FSD active, did not stay stopped for the entire time of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or did not properly recognize and show the correct light status in the vehicle interface”.

Some complainants also stated that FSD “failed to give warnings of the technology's intended behaviour as the vehicle was approaching a red traffic signal”.

Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny

The full self-driving system, which is more sophisticated than its basic autopilot feature, has been being examined by NHTSA for twelve months.

In late 2024, the authority started an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla cars equipped with FSD after four documented crashes in conditions of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, mist or dust clouds. One such accident, in last year, was fatal.

Manufacturer's Official Stance

The company's official position indicates that FSD is “designed for operation by a completely alert motorist, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is ready to assume control at any time. While these features are designed to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

Automated car systems continue to face growing examination from regulatory bodies as the systems develop and real-world testing reveals possible issues with current implementations.