The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” systems following incidents involving collisions during reduced visibility conditions, including one that resulted in a pedestrian fatality. The probe will assess the ability of Tesla’s engineering controls to detect and respond to reduced roadway visibility conditions, as well as the safety impact of software updates to the FSD systems. The investigation covers approximately 2.4 million Tesla vehicles in the U.S. equipped with FSD, including Model S and X, Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck.
Tesla’s FSD is a paid driver assistance option that the company has offered for free trials in the past. The NHTSA tracks collisions involving automakers’ advanced driver assistance systems, and as of October 1, 2024, there were 1,399 incidents involving Tesla’s systems within 30 seconds of the collision, with 31 resulting in fatalities. Tesla recently announced plans to have “unsupervised FSD” in Texas and California next year.
CEO Elon Musk has long promised driverless vehicles, but Tesla has not yet produced a vehicle safe to use on public roads without human intervention. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the NHTSA investigation. The agency will also be investigating whether similar FSD crashes in reduced visibility conditions have occurred, among other things.
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