NHTSA heightens investigation into Tesla's driver-assistance system
FILE-The Tesla logo displayed at a Tesla dealership on January 2, 2025 in Alhambra, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration intensified its investigation into Tesla's driver-assistance system due to concerns that it could fail to determine or warn drivers when there’s inadequate visibility on the road.
Reuters reported that the agency launched an initial assessment into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in October 2024 for over 2 million cars, and NHTSA officials are now performing an engineering assessment, which the news outlet noted that this is a requirement before proceeding with a recall.
Tesla driver-assistance system probe
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Citing the National Traffic Safety Administration, Reuters reported that agency officials disclosed that their investigation points to concern the Tesla camera-based system did not detect common road conditions like glare, dust or other airborne barriers that affected camera visibility, or provide alerts when camera performance diminished before a crash.
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NHTA officials told Reuters that it received reports of nine incidents that could be linked to the problem, including a deadly crash and two other crashes resulting in injuries, while also investigating if six other crashes are possibly related.
According to Reuters, Full-Self Driver (FSD) is an assistance system that Tesla states manages most hectic aspects of daily driving but requires drivers to be attentive on the road and to intervene when necessary.
Moreover, the NHTSA explained to Reuters that when Tesla switched from using cameras and radars to solely a camara-based system, the automaker started using a degradation detection system, which NHTSA officials told Reuters that this data raises concerns the system fails to detect or warn drivers appropriately under substandard visibility conditions.
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Reuters noted that the NHTSA has launched multiple probes into the performance of Tesla's advanced driver assistance systems like Autopilot and the FSD.
Last year, NHTSA officials began a separate investigation in October 2025, into nearly 3 million Tesla cars with the FSD after over 50 reports of traffic safety violations and crashes.
Furthermore, Tesla’s evaluation demonstrates that if an update to the degradation detection system was installed at the time of the crash, it may have impacted three of the incidents, according to the NHTSA.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Reuters, which cites comments from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.