The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced on Friday that it plans to evaluate whether Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system can adequately detect and respond to conditions of fog and other forms of reduced visibility.
The United States has initiated a federal investigation into Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving technology, advertised as “Full Self-Driving” (FSD), following a sequence of vehicular incidents, including one that resulted in a fatality. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Friday its intention to evaluate the system’s competency in recognizing and reacting to conditions of reduced visibility, such as fog.
NHTSA has documented four such incidents where the FSD feature was active during the crashes. In one tragic event, a Tesla vehicle operating on FSD struck and killed a pedestrian. Another incident under the same conditions led to injuries, as per NHTSA reports. Requests for comments from Tesla representatives have gone unanswered.
This investigation could significantly impact CEO Elon Musk’s ambitions to establish Tesla as a frontrunner in the autonomous driving sector. Just last week, Tesla showcased its autonomous vehicle concepts at an event held at a movie studio in the Los Angeles area. For years, Tesla has been charging customers substantial fees for the FSD technology, which still necessitates continuous monitoring by the driver.
This new investigation by NHTSA adds to an ongoing inquiry from April into whether Tesla has effectively prevented drivers from misusing another set of driver assistance features known as Autopilot. The agency is also examining whether a software update released by Tesla towards the end of last year adequately ensures driver engagement when utilizing the system.
NHTSA has pointed out a significant safety discrepancy between the drivers’ perceptions of what the Autopilot feature can do and its actual operational capabilities.
