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American vehicle safety authorities have opened an examination into Tesla cars featuring the autonomous driving system due to safety regulation breaches after multiple collisions.

Safety Agency Identifies Traffic Law Violations

The federal safety agency announced that the automaker's self-driving assistance system, which requires motorists to remain attentive and intervene if needed, had “induced vehicle behaviour that breached road safety regulations”.

This preliminary evaluation by the NHTSA represents the first step before possibly requesting a recall of the cars if the authority concludes they pose a risk to road safety.

Alarming Case Findings

The regulatory body stated it had received reports of nearly 3 million Tesla vehicles running red lights and traveling in the wrong direction during lane switching while operating the system.

NHTSA stated it has six documented cases in which a Tesla car, operating with full self-driving engaged, “came to an junction with a red traffic signal, proceeded to drive into the crossroads against the red light and was subsequently part of a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”.

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

Further Issues Identified

The NHTSA announced it has identified 18 complaints and one news account alleging that Tesla cars, driving through an junction with FSD engaged, “failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or did not properly recognize and display the correct traffic signal state in the car's display”.

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

Ongoing Official Examination

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

In late 2024, the authority started an inquiry into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles using FSD after four reported collisions in situations of poor visibility, such as sun glare, fog or airborne dust. One of these collisions, in last year, was deadly.

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 steering wheel and is ready to assume control at any moment. While these features are designed to become more capable, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.”

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