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NHTSA · Regulatory Probe · Self-Driving · Tesla
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) escalated its investigation into Tesla's "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)" system to an "engineering analysis," covering approximately 3.2 million Teslas, due to alleged failures in low-visibility conditions and traffic law violations, a step that can precede a recall.
The probe focuses on Tesla's camera-only "vision" approach and a "degradation detection" feature, which regulators state is not reliably performing its job. This escalation follows crashes, including a fatal one, where the system reportedly failed to recognize or warn drivers about sun glare, fog, or dust, and lost track of vehicles.
A preliminary evaluation began in October 2024, as reported by Reuters, and a separate investigation launched last year involved dozens of incidents where FSD vehicles violated traffic laws, such as running red lights or driving on the wrong side of the road. This deepened inquiry occurs roughly one month before Tesla plans to begin building its Cybercab robotaxi, a steering-wheel-free vehicle designed to run autonomously on FSD.
