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American vehicle safety authorities have started an investigation into Tesla cars equipped with the autonomous driving system due to traffic-safety violations after several accidents.

Safety Agency Finds Traffic Law Breaches

The NHTSA declared that the electric carmaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands motorists to stay alert and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that breached traffic safety laws”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA marks the first step before potentially seeking a recall of the cars if the authority determines they pose a risk to road safety.

Alarming Incident Reports

The regulatory body stated it had documented accounts of 2.88 million Tesla vehicles running red lights and moving against the wrong direction during lane changes while using the technology.

NHTSA stated it has six reports in which a Tesla vehicle, using full self-driving activated, “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to drive into the crossroads against the red signal and was subsequently part of a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”.

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

Additional Issues Identified

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

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

Continuing Regulatory Scrutiny

The full self-driving system, which is more advanced than its Autopilot system, has been being examined by NHTSA for twelve months.

In October 2024, the agency started an inquiry into over two million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD after four documented crashes in conditions of reduced visibility, such as sun glare, fog or airborne dust. One such accident, in last year, was fatal.

Manufacturer'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 prepared to take over at any moment. While these features are engineered to become more capable, the presently active features do not make the car autonomous.”

Automated car systems continue to face increased scrutiny from regulatory bodies as the systems develop and real-world testing reveals potential challenges with existing deployments.