The Tesla FSD probe has expanded after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched another official investigation into the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver-assistance system. The move follows dozens of recent incidents in which vehicles allegedly violated traffic laws, including running red lights and driving the wrong way, sometimes resulting in crashes.
On October 8, 2025, NHTSA said it had received 58 reports alleging sudden malfunctions and traffic-signal violations while Tesla vehicles were operating in FSD mode. The investigation covers about 2.88 million Tesla vehicles, effectively including nearly all models equipped with FSD.
FSD is a Level 2 driver-assistance system that requires continuous driver attention. A supervised version (“Full Self-Driving Supervised”) is currently available commercially. Tesla is also testing a version aimed at achieving full autonomy without driver intervention. However, regulatory scrutiny has intensified as CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly promised full commercialization over several years.
This latest probe adds to multiple ongoing investigations into FSD, some of which involve crashes that resulted in injuries. Tesla maintains that the system does not enable full autonomy and that drivers must always be prepared to take control. However, some owners have reported crashes that occurred without prior malfunction warnings.
Separately, NHTSA is examining Tesla’s Summon feature—which allows remote vehicle retrieval—after reports of minor parking-lot collisions and possible delays in crash reporting.
Elon Musk has pledged to deploy hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous vehicles and robo-taxis by the end of next year. Yet the growing number of investigations has raised concerns about public confidence in the technology.
BY EUNYOUNG LEE [lee.eunyoung6@koreadaily.com]
