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American vehicle safety authorities have opened an examination into Tesla vehicles equipped with the full self-driving technology due to traffic-safety violations after numerous collisions.

Regulatory Body Identifies Traffic Law Violations

The federal safety agency stated that the automaker's autonomous driving feature, which demands drivers to stay alert and intervene if needed, had “induced car behavior that violated traffic safety laws”.

This initial assessment by the NHTSA marks the initial phase before potentially requesting a recall of the vehicles if the authority concludes they present a danger to public safety.

Alarming Incident Reports

The regulatory body reported it had documented accounts of 2.88 million Tesla cars running red lights and traveling in the wrong direction during lane changes while using the technology.

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, using FSD engaged, “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the crossroads against the red signal and was later involved in a collision with other cars in the junction”.

The agency reported that four crashes had caused one or more injuries.

Additional Safety Concerns

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

Some complainants also claimed that FSD “did not provide alerts of the system's planned behaviour as the car was approaching a red traffic signal”.

Ongoing Regulatory Scrutiny

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 cars equipped with FSD after four reported collisions in situations of poor visibility, such as bright sunlight, fog or dust clouds. One such accident, in 2023, was fatal.

Company's Stated Position

Tesla's website states that FSD is “intended for use with a completely alert motorist, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any time. While these features are designed to become more capable, the presently active functions do not render the vehicle autonomous.”

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