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American vehicle safety authorities have opened an examination into Tesla vehicles equipped with the autonomous driving system due to traffic-safety violations following numerous crashes.

Regulatory Body Identifies Traffic Law Breaches

The federal safety agency stated that the automaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires drivers to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that breached road safety regulations”.

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

Concerning Case Findings

The regulatory body reported it had documented accounts of 2.88 million Tesla cars driving through red lights and moving in the incorrect way during lane switching while using the system.

NHTSA stated it has six reports in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with full self-driving engaged, “approached an intersection with a red light, proceeded to drive into the crossroads despite the red signal and was later involved in a collision with other motor vehicles in the junction”.

The agency reported that four accidents had resulted in one or more injuries.

Additional Issues Identified

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

Several reporters also claimed that FSD “failed to give alerts of the technology's intended actions as the car was coming to a red light”.

Ongoing Official Examination

Tesla's FSD, which is more advanced than its basic autopilot feature, has been being examined by NHTSA for a year.

In October 2024, the authority began an inquiry into 2.4 million Tesla cars equipped with FSD after four reported collisions in situations of reduced visibility, such as sun glare, mist or dust clouds. One such accident, in 2023, was fatal.

Company's Official Stance

Tesla's website states that FSD is “designed for operation by a fully attentive motorist, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any time. While these features are engineered to become more capable, the presently active features do not render the vehicle self-driving.”

Self-driving vehicle technology continue to face increased scrutiny from safety agencies as the technology advances and real-world testing reveals possible issues with current implementations.