Federal officials probe Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ over traffic violations

Federal safety regulators are investigating Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” feature over reports that the technology caused vehicles to run red lights and maneuver into opposing lanes, the agency said this week.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the probe, affecting nearly 2.9 million vehicles with the feature, stemmed from complaints to the agency, media reports and information it collected on crashes involving driver-assistance technology. The agency said there had been 58 incidents in all - including 14 crashes or fires, 10 incidents involving injuries and 23 total injuries.

NHTSA said it has logged six crashes involving Teslas in Full Self-Driving that had traveled into an intersection against a red light and collided with another vehicle.

The agency said that of those red light infractions, preliminary investigations “indicated that the problem may be repeatable, given that multiple subject incidents occurred at the same intersection in Joppa, Maryland.” Tesla has since sought to remedy the issue at that intersection, the agency said.

Full Self-Driving, which has been marketed under the terms Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and Full Self-Driving Beta, is Tesla’s most sophisticated advanced driver-assistance system, enabling vehicles to maneuver around city and residential streets, making lane changes and steering on their own, though drivers are expected to maintain full attention. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has positioned it as crucial to the company’s ambitions, describing the technology as “the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money and being worth basically zero.”

Tesla and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

NHTSA said its investigation aimed “to assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences of FSD executing driving maneuvers that constitute traffic safety violations.”