After Fatal Crash, Feds Are Investigating Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving'

The US government's road safety agency is again investigating Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" system, this time after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday, with the company reporting four crashes after Teslas entered areas of low visibility, including sun glare, fog, and airborne dust, the AP reports. A standing order requires manufacturers to notify the agency when vehicles equipped with automated driving systems are involved in crashes that cause injury or property damage.

• In addition to the pedestrian's death, another crash involved an injury, the agency said. Reuters reports that the fatal crash involved a pedestrian who was hit by a 2021 Tesla Model Y in Rimrock, Arizona in 2023.
• Investigators will look into the ability of "Full Self-Driving" to "detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions, and if so, the contributing circumstances for these crashes."

• The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years. The agency also said it would look into whether any other similar crashes involving "Full Self-Driving" have happened in low visibility conditions, and it will seek information from the company on whether any updates affected the system's performance in those conditions.
• Critics have said that Tesla's system, which uses only cameras to spot hazards, doesn't have proper sensors to be fully self driving. Nearly all other companies working on autonomous vehicles use radar and laser sensors in addition to cameras to see better in the dark or poor visibility conditions. The company has repeatedly said the system cannot drive itself and human drivers must be ready to intervene at all times.

• Tesla has twice recalled "Full Self-Driving" under pressure from the agency, which in July sought information from law enforcement and the company after a Tesla using the system struck and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle.
• The investigation that was opened Thursday enters new territory for NHTSA, which previously had viewed Tesla's systems as assisting drivers rather than driving themselves. With the new probe, the agency is focusing on the capabilities of "Full Self-Driving" rather than simply making sure drivers are paying attention.
• Ars Technica reports that this is the NHTSA's 14th safety investigation of Tesla—and it could be a costly one for the company, because a potential recall "could involve having to retrofit the cars with new hardware at great expense or require disabling FSD, which would deprive Tesla of a critical revenue stream."

(More Tesla stories.)