Tesla’s FSD is being investigated by the government after a fatal crash

Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) is under investigation by federal authorities after one of its vehicles equipped with driver-assistance technology fatally struck a pedestrian.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Friday it has identified four reports in which a Tesla equipped with Full Self-Driving (FSD) was involved in an accident. One of these accidents resulted in a fatality, while another report mentioned a separate injury.

In each crash, they entered an area with “impaired road visibility,” such as fog or dust in the air, according to the NHTSA. The reports were submitted between February and September.

The preliminary assessment, which represents just the latest hiccup for Tesla’s autonomous driving efforts, will include the more than 2.4 million Tesla Model S, 3, X, Y and Cybertrucks on the road in the United States. Regulators will assess whether FSD is designed to properly detect and respond to reduced visibility on the road, whether there are similar accidents involving FSD, and whether updates to the software have affected the performance of the software.

In April, the NHTSA announced that it had linked Tesla’s Autopilot software to more than 200 accidents and 29 deaths and opened more than 50 special accident investigations into Tesla vehicles believed to be related to Autopilot. The Wall Street Journal (NWSA) Reports that more than 1,200 Autopilot-related accidents have been reported to NHTSA since 2021.

Tesla is facing legal action in both federal and state court over incidents related to its driver assistance technology. One of the Latest lawsuits This is Landon Emrby, who died in 2022 after a Model 3 activated autopilot and crashed into the back of his motorcycle in April, the Austin, Texas-based automaker completed with the family of 38-year-old Apple engineer Walter Huang, who crashed into a barrier on a California highway in 2018 while using Autopilot.

Tesla won two previous tests in California against Autopilot largely by blaming human error for the accidents – and one death. CEO Elon Musk has previously said that Tesla will “never seek victory in a just case against us” and will “never abandon/settle an unjust case against us.”

Tesla was too False advertising is alleged from the California Department of Motor Vehicles and examined by the Attorney General’s Office for its marketing practices related to its technology. The Justice Department has opened a separate one Investigation against Musk and Tesla over their claims about Autopilot.

Musk has always promising too much and failed to make good on his claims about Tesla’s rapid progress in autonomous driving. NHTSA’s latest investigation could also hinder Tesla’s efforts to seek regulatory approval and test its prototype “Cybercab.” Self-driving vehicle was introduced last week. Musk also hinted last week that Tesla would begin deploying “fully autonomous, unattended” FSD in Texas and California starting in 2025.