U.S. regulators investigate Tesla over Full Self-Driving traffic violations

Elon Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla is once again being investigated by federal regulators.

On Thursday, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it was investigating Tesla vehicles with "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) assistance installed over traffic safety violations.

That's 2.88 million Tesla vehicles that are part of the investigation, as they all have the FSD assistance system installed.

According to the NHTSA, the agency has 58 separate reports involving traffic safety issues with Tesla vehicles that use FSD. This includes 14 crashes and 23 injuries. The traffic violations ranges from FSD-installed Tesla vehicles running through red lights to the EVs driving the wrong way against traffic during a lane change. 

The NHTSA's reports include 18 complaints where a Tesla vehicle with full self-driving engaged “failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and display the correct traffic signal state in the vehicle interface.” NHTSA's reports also include six instances when a Tesla with FSD assistance engaged “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the intersection against the red light and was subsequently involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection”. 

A Tesla driver in Houston told the NHTSA as part of one of its reports that Tesla's FSD "is not recognizing traffic signals." As a result, Tesla vehicles are "proceeding through red lights, and stopping at green lights."

The NHTSA will also look into how Tesla vehicles with FSD engaged perform at railroad crossings.

Tesla's full self-driving assistance system requires drivers to pay attention to the road and intervene when necessary if FSD is engaged. However, the NHTSA says that Tesla's FSD has “induced vehicle behaviour that violated traffic safety laws," as reported by The Guardian.

The NHTSA's investigation is seen as a preliminary step to a potential recall of Tesla vehicles with FSD engaged.

The NHTSA had already opened a separate investigation into Tesla and its FSD assistance system in October 2024. That investigation's focus is on how FSD performs in "reduced roadway visibility conditions." It was opened after four reported Tesla crashes with FSD engaged, one which turned out to be fatal.

The U.S. agency had also reached out to Tesla over the summer after videos showed Tesla robotaxis violating traffic laws in Austin, Texas.