Tesla Faces NHTSA Probe Over FSD Fatal Accident

Elon Musk’s Tesla faces more unwelcome headlines after it emerged the US federal automotive safety regulator, the NHTSA, is conducting an investigation into its “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) system.

Records posted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website reveal that the investigation will centre around “FSD collisions in reduced roadway visibility conditions.”

In July 2024 police in Washington state determined that a Tesla that hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle in April had been operating the company’s “Full Self Driving” (FSD) system at the time of the crash.

FSD investigation

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made promises of driverless cars for years, and recently stated that “Full Self Driving” should be able to run without human supervision in Texas and California next year in certain models.

But last week shares in Tesla fell after a self-driving robotaxi launch event failed to impress, due a remarkable lack of details and Musk’s assertion that it’s two seater self-driving ‘Cybercab’ would only cost $30,000.

Tesla of course has two driver assistance programs. All new Tesla vehicles have the standard driver assistance system installed called Autopilot.

But Tesla also sells the more advanced FSD option (now marketed as “Full Self-Driving Supervised”) for an upfront fee, as well as a monthly charge. This enables Tesla vehicles to change lanes and park autonomously.

But now according to the NHTSA documentation, “the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has identified four Standing General Order (SGO) reports in which a Tesla vehicle experienced a crash after entering an area of reduced roadway visibility conditions with FSD -Beta or FSD -Supervised (collectively, FSD) engaged.”

“In these crashes, the reduced roadway visibility arose from conditions such as sun glare, fog, or airborne dust,” it states. “In one of the crashes, the Tesla vehicle fatally struck a pedestrian. One additional crash in these conditions involved a reported injury.”

The ODI has therefore “opened a Preliminary Evaluation of FSD” that pertains to a vehicle population of around 2.4 million Tesla EVs on American roads.

Many crashes

There have been a number of crashes and deaths involving Tesla and its self-driving technologies over the years.

Indeed, Tesla vehicles have reportedly accounted for nearly 70 percent of reported crashes involving advanced driver-assistance systems since June 2021, according to federal figures, but officials warned against drawing any safety conclusions.

As of 1 October 2024, the NHTSA had reportedly tracked 1,399 incidents in which Tesla’s driver assistance systems were engaged within 30 seconds of the collision, and 31 of those had resulted in fatalities.

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has so far opened over 38 special investigations into crashes involving Tesla vehicles that have resulted in 19 deaths, looking at whether the software was a factor.

The Elon Musk firm is also facing a criminal probe by the US Department of Justice over claims its vehicles can drive themselves.