The U.S. government’s highway safety agency has opened an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles running the automaker’s fully self-driving software after four reported crashes, including one fatal crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Friday that it was opening the preliminary assessment after four reports of accidents in which full autonomous driving was used during reduced visibility conditions on the road, such as glare from the road. sun, fog or dust in the air.
In one accident, “the Tesla vehicle fatally struck a pedestrian. An additional accident under these conditions involved a reported injury,” NHTSA said.
The investigation covers 2016-2024 Model S and
The preliminary assessment is the first step before the agency can require a recall of the vehicles if it believes they pose an unreasonable safety risk.
Tesla says on its website that its “Full Self-Driving” software in on-road vehicles requires active driver supervision and does not make the vehicles autonomous.
NHTSA is reviewing the ability of FSD engineering controls to “appropriately detect and respond to reduced visibility road conditions.”
The agency is asking whether other similar FSD accidents have occurred in reduced road visibility conditions and whether Tesla has updated or modified the FSD system in a way that could affect it in reduced road visibility conditions.
NHTSA said the “review will evaluate the timing, purpose and capabilities of such updates, as well as Tesla’s assessment of their impact on safety,” the agency said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is looking to shift Tesla’s focus toward self-driving technology and robotaxis amid competition and weak demand in its automotive business.
The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Its shares were down 0.5% before the bell.
Last week, Musk unveiled Tesla’s two-seat, two-door “Cybercab” robotaxi concept with no steering wheel or pedals that would use cameras and artificial intelligence to help navigate roads. Tesla would need NHTSA approval to deploy a vehicle without human controls.
Tesla’s FSD technology has been in development for years and aims for high automation, where your vehicle can perform most driving tasks without human intervention.
But it has faced legal scrutiny, with at least two fatal crashes involving the technology, including an incident in April in which a Tesla Model S car was in fully autonomous driving mode when it struck and killed a 28-year-old motorcyclist. in the Seattle Area.
Tesla’s “camera-only” approach to partially and fully autonomous driving systems, some industry experts have said, could cause problems in low visibility conditions since the vehicles do not have a backup set of sensors.
“Weather conditions can affect the camera’s ability to see things and I think the regulatory environment will certainly influence this,” said Jeff Schuster, vice president at GlobalData.
“That could be one of the main obstacles in what I would call a near-term launch of this technology and these products.”
Tesla’s rivals that operate robotaxis rely on expensive sensors like lidar and radar to detect driving environments.
In December, the company had recalled more than 2 million vehicles in the US to install new safety measures in its Autopilot advanced driver assistance system. NHTSA is still investigating whether that recall is appropriate.