The U.S. federal road safety agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is once again investigating the driver assistance system installed on at least 3.2 million Tesla cars, that Full Self-Driving which, in addition to having already been scrutinized in the past for its actual ability to see obstacles, has also been accused by several users of having a name that does not correspond to reality, leading drivers to believe it is a true autonomous autopilot.
NHTSA INVESTIGATES (AGAIN) FULL SELF-DRIVING
As anticipated, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has long been investigating the software of Elon Musk’s automaker, having opened a first file in October 2024. At that time, 2.4 million cars were under the agency’s microscope – sharply downplayed by Musk himself when he arrived at the Trumpian Doge – which became as many as 2.9 million vehicles the following October.
Now, Reuters reports that the U.S. road safety agency is initiating an engineering analysis, a mandatory step that normally precedes an official recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated that the investigation into Tesla models S, X, 3, Y, and Cybertruck will try to address doubts about whether the camera-based system can in some cases be inattentive and blind to certain road and environmental conditions (for example, fog, glaring sun, or other “reduced visibility conditions”) and likewise may fail to alert the driver if the cameras are not properly seeing the surrounding world.
THE INVESTIGATION STARTED FROM NINE ACCIDENTS, ONE FATAL
The agency, according to details from CNBC, reported having received nine reports related to as many accidents, including one fatal pedestrian accident and two with injuries, and is verifying whether other accidents in its archive may be related to Full Self-Driving malfunctions.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, emphasizes Reuters, noted that when Tesla began transitioning from the combined use of cameras and radar to a camera-only approach, known as “Tesla Vision” in mid-2021, it implemented a performance degradation detection system; however, according to the news agency well-informed on NHTSA’s moves, the data raise concerns about whether this system can effectively perform its task under all road and weather conditions.
In many of the incidents examined, “Full Self-Driving lost track of or never detected” the presence of obstacles “in its path,” the agency protecting drivers and pedestrians stated. Each accident will also be examined to understand what the driver was doing at the moment of impact, who, due to the limitations of onboard technology, must still sit at the wheel and be ready to intervene, not becoming distracted. And while U.S. authorities investigate, Tesla aims to obtain approvals for Full Self-Driving also in China and Europe.
