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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 after numerous collisions.

Regulatory Body Identifies Safety Regulation Breaches

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which requires motorists to stay alert and take control when necessary, had “induced car behavior that breached road safety regulations”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA represents the initial phase before potentially seeking a withdrawal of the cars if the authority concludes they pose a risk to public safety.

Concerning Incident Reports

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

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, using FSD activated, “came to an intersection with a red light, continued to drive into the crossroads despite the red signal and was subsequently part of a crash with other cars in the junction”.

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

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA stated it has found 18 reports and one media report alleging that Tesla cars, operating at an intersection with FSD engaged, did not stay stationary for the entire time of a red traffic signal, did not come to complete stop, or did not properly recognize and display the proper light status in the vehicle interface”.

Some complainants also claimed that FSD “failed to give warnings of the technology's planned actions as the car was approaching a red traffic signal”.

Continuing Official Examination

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

In October 2024, the authority began an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles using FSD after four reported collisions in conditions of reduced visibility, such as bright sunlight, fog or airborne dust. One of these collisions, in last year, was fatal.

Company's Official Stance

Tesla's website states that FSD is “designed for operation by a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the steering wheel and is ready to assume control at any moment. While these capabilities are engineered to become more capable, the presently active functions do not make the vehicle 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 current implementations.