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

Safety Agency Finds Traffic Law Violations

The federal safety agency declared that the automaker's self-driving assistance system, which requires drivers to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that violated road safety regulations”.

This early investigation by the NHTSA marks the initial phase before possibly requesting a recall of the cars if the authority concludes they pose a risk to road safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

The agency stated it had documented reports of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles running red traffic lights and moving against the wrong way during lane changes while operating the system.

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with full self-driving activated, “came to an intersection with a red traffic signal, proceeded to travel into the crossroads against the red light and was later involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”.

The authority noted that four crashes had resulted in one or more injuries.

Additional Safety Concerns

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

Several reporters also stated that FSD “failed to give alerts of the technology's intended behaviour as the car was coming to a red traffic signal”.

Continuing Official Examination

Tesla's FSD, which is more sophisticated than its basic autopilot feature, has been under investigation by NHTSA for a year.

In October 2024, the agency began an inquiry into over two million Tesla cars using FSD after four documented crashes in situations of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, mist or airborne dust. One of these collisions, in 2023, was fatal.

Company's Stated Position

Tesla's website states that FSD is “designed for operation by a completely alert driver, 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 features do not make the vehicle self-driving.”

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