Tesla FSD Faces NHTSA Probe Over Crashes and Traffic Violations
The NHTSA is investigating Tesla's Full Self-Driving system across nearly 2.9 million vehicles over reported traffic violations and crashes. The probe covers 58 incidents including 14 crashes with 23 injuries, with a March 9 deadline for Tesla to submit data to federal regulators.
What happened
The NHTSA launched an investigation into an estimated 2,882,566 Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD (Supervised) or FSD (Beta) focusing on traffic violations including running red lights, making illegal turns, and driving the wrong way.
As of the investigation, 58 incidents were reported including 14 crashes resulting in 23 injuries with no fatalities recorded. In one reported incident on March 8, a Tesla on FSD appeared to drive through lowered railroad crossing gates despite flashing lights and physical barriers, with the driver narrowly avoiding a collision with an approaching train.
Reported impact
The system is classified as Level 2 driver assistance, requiring drivers to remain seated and attentive at all times and intervene when necessary. The investigation centers on whether incidents occurred in situations where a driver could not reasonably react or intervene in time.
Index analysis
Tesla's camera-based FSD system is designed to rely on visual input to understand the environment and react accordingly. The railroad crossing incident suggests the system may have failed to recognize obvious environmental signals such as flashing lights and physical barriers blocking the lane.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.