Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)'s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system has prompted the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to open an investigation into about 2.9 million of the company’s vehicles over potential traffic-safety violations.
The US government agency stated that Tesla’s FSD may have “induced vehicle behavior that violated traffic safety laws,” citing reports of Tesla vehicles running red lights or traveling in the wrong direction during lane changes.
The NHTSA listed 18 complaints and one media report, which alleged that a Tesla operating with FSD engaged “failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and display the correct traffic signal state in the vehicle interface.”
The agency noted that it has six reports in which a Tesla with FSD engaged “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the intersection against the red light and was subsequently involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection.”
It added that four of those crashes reportedly resulted in one or more major injuries.
Tesla has not commented on the investigation, Reuters reported.
Tesla shares slipped 2% to $429.44 in late-morning trading on Thursday.