The U.S. government has initiated an investigation into Tesla after reports surfaced that the company’s self-driving cars had violated traffic laws, specifically citing instances of driving on the wrong side of the road and running red lights.
Scope of the Federal Probe
According to a filing from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the agency is aware of 58 reports where electric cars equipped with the system committed such violations. An estimated 2.9 million cars equipped with the Full Self-Driving technology will fall under the scope of this broad investigation. Tesla, whose boss Elon Musk recently became the world’s first half-trillionaire, has been approached for comment.
The NHTSA’s preliminary evaluation will “assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences” of the system, which is formally labeled “Full Self-Driving (Supervised).” This feature, which costs extra for Tesla owners, allows the cars to execute complex maneuvers like lane changes and turns, but it always requires drivers to remain attentive and ready to take over at any moment.
The NHTSA report detailed several critical failures, including six crashes caused by cars stopping at a traffic light before inappropriately setting off while the light was still red. Four of these crashes resulted in injuries. The traffic authority noted that a specific intersection in Joppa, Maryland, had seen repeated red-light problems, an issue that Tesla has since taken action to address. The investigation will also focus on reports of vehicles entering the opposite lane when attempting to make a turn. The agency raised a serious safety concern, noting that some of the reported incidents gave the driver “little notice to a driver or opportunity to intervene.”
Mounting Regulatory and Market Challenges
This new safety investigation is just one of several regulatory challenges facing the company. Tesla is already under an existing NHTSA investigation concerning the cars’ door locking mechanisms, which was launched after reports emerged of children being trapped inside Model Y vehicles, forcing owners to smash windows to free them.
Commercially, Tesla recently unveiled cheaper “Standard” versions of two of its most popular cars in a direct effort to compete with lower-cost electric vehicles, many of which are manufactured by Chinese companies. Politically, the company’s boss, Elon Musk, was formerly a close ally of President Donald Trump before a public falling-out earlier in the year. In July, Musk announced the formation of a new political party, the America Party, intended to rival the Republicans and Democrats.
Author’s Opinion
The U.S. government’s investigation is a necessary response to the reckless premise of deploying complex, unfinished driving software labeled as “Full Self-Driving” on public roads, thereby converting paying customers and the general public into unwitting beta testers. The reported safety failures—running red lights and swerving into oncoming traffic—demonstrate that the system is failing at the most fundamental rules of the road, placing the public at unacceptable risk. This probe must not only determine the software’s safety but also challenge the deceptive branding that encourages drivers to abdicate their responsibility, making the investigation a crucial test of the regulatory system’s willingness to enforce safety over aspirational technology.
Featured image credit: yupicard via Flickr
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