The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into nearly 2.9 million Tesla vehicles equipped with the Full Self-Driving system. The probe follows reports of 58 incidents involving traffic violations and crashes. Regulators are examining whether software updates have addressed these safety concerns.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an investigation into approximately 2.9 million Tesla vehicles fitted with the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. This probe, detailed in recent filings, stems from 58 incident reports documenting violations such as running red lights, driving on the wrong side of the road, illegal lane changes, and failure to yield. Some incidents involved crashes that endangered drivers and pedestrians, including vehicles ignoring signals and colliding with others, resulting in injuries.
The investigation covers Tesla models from 2016 onward equipped with FSD, highlighting patterns of erratic behavior in the system. While Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has promoted FSD as a key technology for future robotaxi services, the software requires human supervision, despite its name. This is not the first regulatory scrutiny for Tesla; prior probes have focused on the related Autopilot feature and fatal crashes, but this one targets FSD's specific traffic infractions.
NHTSA is assessing whether over-the-air software updates have resolved these issues or if deeper problems persist in Tesla's AI approach. The company has not yet commented on the probe's details, though past responses have stressed ongoing improvements through real-world data collection. Safety advocates and analysts express concerns over Tesla's beta-testing method, which relies on customer vehicles and may expose the public to risks.
This development occurs amid wider challenges in the autonomous vehicle industry, where firms like Waymo and Cruise have also faced oversight. For Tesla, the stakes involve potential recalls or fixes that could delay robotaxi plans and affect revenue projections tied to self-driving tech. The probe underscores debates on the readiness of such systems for complex environments without constant human intervention.