The American Highway Safety Agency (NHTSA) announced on Thursday, October 10, the opening of a preliminary investigation into the role of Tesla’s autonomous driving option (FSD), installed in several million vehicles, in traffic violations.
“The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is launching a preliminary evaluation to measure the magnitude, frequency and possible safety consequences of performing driving maneuvers with the FSD that constitute traffic violations,” the NHTSA specifies in a notice published on its website.
According to the attached documents, this initiative comes after 44 incidents were reported to the ODI in which the FSD option was used when violations occurred, including “running a red light or driving in the wrong direction.”
14 accidents
But similar incidents were reported to other organizations, bringing the total to 58. They caused fourteen accidents or fires, resulting in twenty-three injuries but no deaths. No date is indicated for these incidents but the investigation affects all personal vehicles of the Austin (Texas) group: Model S and Model
This potentially represents 2,882,566 Elon Musk brand vehicles, reports the NHTSA, which had already opened an investigation into the FSD in October 2024 after the death of a pedestrian following an accident.
It is also investigating other road incidents involving Teslas, relating in particular to the Robotaxi driverless vehicle, launched in June in Austin, or technical problems (unexpected locking of doors, falling body parts, etc.).
Source: BFM TV
