WASHINGTON, DL.C. – Following fatalities and serious injuries connected to at least 13 vehicle accidents involving Tesla’s self-driving features identified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) since June 2022, the federal agency’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has launched a safety probe into the electric vehicle manufacturer that could affect as many as 2.5 million cars.
However, the issue may be more far-reaching than the NHTSA has surmised, as – based on NHTSA data – the Washington Post reported in 2023 that there have been more than 700 accidents and a minimum of 19 fatalities since 2019 linked to the automated driving modes installed in Tesla vehicles.
Full Self-Driving (FSD) – which utilizes cameras and computer vision enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI) to detect, identify, and predict the behavior of objects encountered on the road – does not come by default in Tesla vehicles; instead, it is an option that buyers can elect to have added for an $8,000 upgrade charge, as per the company’s website.
The NHTSA probe will focus on the ability of FSD to recognize and compensate for reduced visibility brought on by environmental conditions such as rain, bright sunlight, and fog when traversing roadways, and to see if the software’s reactions in these instances may have led to accidents, especially ones that have harmed human beings.
NHTSA will also investigate how the Tesla FSD safety features may have been positively or negatively impacted by previous rounds of software updates.
During prior NHTSA probes, the agency found that the FSD system had flaws that could result in crashes, leading to Tesla recalling 362,000 vehicles equipped with Beta versions of the software for updates. Another investigation later revealed that driver misuse contributed to the bulk of accidents associated with the FSD feature, leading to another recall of 2 million vehicles – Tesla’s largest ever – for updates to add “additional controls and alerts” to keep drivers engaged and aware when using the system.
Christopher Boyle is an investigative journalist, videographer, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Christopher works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.