The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a “preliminary evaluation” of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) following four crash reports – one of which resulted in a fatality.
The investigation involves a total of 2,410,002 vehicles across the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X and Cybertruck lines.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) identified four reports where a Tesla using FSD-Beta or FSD-Supervised crashed after entering an area where road visibility was reduced, whether that was due to glare from the sun, airborne dust, or fog.
In one of these crashes, the Tesla struck and killed a pedestrian.
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It’s not the only instance where FSD was allegedly in operation at the time of a crash, with a motorcyclist struck and killed in April 2024 by a Tesla. FSD was reportedly in use at the time, though this crash isn’t noted in the NHTSA’s latest release.
The ODI’s investigation will evaluate whether FSD’s engineering controls have sufficient ability to detect and respond appropriately to reduced visibility and whether any other crashes have also occurred as a result of limited visibility.
It will also evaluate whether any of Tesla’s updates or changes to FSD have affected its performance.
Tesla has phased out sensors and radar on its vehicles in favour of a camera-only approach to run its Autopilot and FSD systems.
The company markets FSD – technically a Level 2 autonomous driving system, despite the name – as having the ability to accelerate, brake and steer the car itself, with the system claimed to be capable of navigating, changing lanes and following road signal directions.
However, the owner’s manual warns drivers must be prepared to take over control at any time – either for emergencies or in case of a failure with the technology – while the use of a mobile phone while driving in its semi-autonomous mode is also forbidden.
It’s not just FSD that has come under the NHTSA’s microscope, with the regulator also investigating crashes involving Tesla’s Autopilot system.
This new investigation comes shortly after Tesla revealed its Cybercab and Robovan concepts, which it claims are fully autonomous. These don’t feature steering wheels.