Tesla faces a new investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, concerning issues with its \u201cFull Self-Driving\u201d systems, and whether they are safe to use in fog, glaring sun or other \u201creduced roadway visibility conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The probe follows an incident in which a Tesla driver who had been using FSD struck and killed a pedestrian, and other FSD-involved collisions during reduced roadway visibility conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Records posted to the NHTSA<\/a> website on Friday morning said the purpose of the new probe would be to assess:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ability of FSD\u2019s engineering controls to detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions; whether any other similar FSD crashes have occurred in reduced roadway visibility conditions and, if so, the contributing circumstances for those crashes,\u201d among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agency will also look into Tesla\u2019s over-the-air, software updates to its FSD systems, which are now marketed as \u201cFull Self-Driving (Supervised),\u201d to understand the \u201ctiming, purpose, and capabilities of any such updates, as well as Tesla\u2019s assessment of their safety impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cpreliminary evaluation\u201d by the NHTSA pertains to a vehicle population of around 2.4 million Tesla EVs on U.S. roads including: Model S and X vehicles produced from 2016 to 2024, Model 3 vehicles produced from 2017 to 2024, Model Y vehicles produced from 2020 to 2024, and Cybertruck vehicles produced this year and last, which give drivers the option to use Tesla\u2019s FSD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FSD, which the company now refers to as a \u201cpartial driving automation system,\u201d is Tesla\u2019s paid, premium driver assistance option. But Tesla has offered it to all drivers for a monthlong free trial in the U.S., previously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. federal vehicle safety regulator tracks collisions<\/a> involving the use of automakers\u2019 advanced driver assistance systems, like Tesla\u2019s Autopilot or FSD. As of Oct. 1, 2024, the NHTSA had tracked 1,399 incidents in which Tesla\u2019s driver assistance systems were engaged within 30 seconds of the collision, and 31 of those had resulted in fatalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tesla<\/a> did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company recently held a marketing event<\/a> in which CEO Elon Musk<\/a> said Tesla expects to have \u201cunsupervised FSD\u201d up and running in Texas and California next year in the company\u2019s Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Musk has promised driverless vehicles for years. But Tesla has not yet produced or shown a vehicle that is safe to use on public roads without a human at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n