NHTSA opens an investigation into Tesla Full Self-Driving after crashes in reduced visibility, including a fatal pedestrian strike, October 2024
The typed evidence object. This is the working store; the case page is the reader's form.
| Layer / facet | Value | Type | Sources | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mandate: principal | Tesla as maker; each driver as supervisor | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions'; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, letter to Tesla, Inc., 'Information Request ID EA26002-01' (Engineering Analysis EA26002), 2 July 2026 | high |
| Mandate: objective | FSD Beta and FSD (Supervised), also referred to as Autosteer on City Streets, used on public roadways in the United States under driver supervision | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, letter to Tesla, Inc., 'Information Request ID EA26002-01' (Engineering Analysis EA26002), 2 July 2026 | high |
| Actor | FSD (FSD Beta or FSD (Supervised)) on an estimated 2,410,002 vehicles, model years 2016 to 2024, when the investigation opened; the Engineering Analysis opened in March 2026 covers an estimated 3,203,754 vehicles, model years 2016 to 2026 | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions'; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume EA26002 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | high |
| Inputs | Reduced roadway visibility: sun glare, fog, airborne dust | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | high |
| Decision | Not disclosed. The investigation by NHTSA (the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) opened to assess whether FSD's engineering controls detect and respond appropriately to reduced visibility; since March 2026 it focuses on FSD's degradation detection system and whether it detects a degraded state and alerts the driver with time to respond. NHTSA states that in the crashes it reviewed the system did not detect conditions that impaired camera visibility, or did not alert the driver, until immediately before the crash, and that in further crashes found in Tesla's responses FSD also lost track of or never detected a lead vehicle in its path. These are concerns NHTSA has raised, not a defect finding | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions'; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume EA26002 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | high |
| Envelope: constraints | No stated restriction preventing engagement in reduced visibility | interpretation | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, letter to Tesla, Inc., 'Information Request ID EA26002-01' (Engineering Analysis EA26002), 2 July 2026 | medium |
| Envelope: basis | The open question is whether the controls were adequate for the conditions the product was sold into | interpretation | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | medium |
| Action | Four crashes with FSD engaged in reduced visibility, one striking a pedestrian | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | high |
| Outcome | State: harm. One pedestrian fatality and one injury among the four crashes in the opening resume; NHTSA's March 2026 resumes count nine crashes, with one fatality, two injury incidents and one injury. As of Oct 2026. | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions'; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume EA26002 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | high |
| Evidence: event | Crash reports filed under the Standing General Order; the regulator's own resume | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | high |
| Recovery: automated fallback | Not evidenced as working in these crashes: NHTSA states that in the crashes it reviewed the system did not alert the driver until immediately before the crash, if at all; which reduced-visibility conditions make the system hand control back to the driver, and how quickly, is among NHTSA's open questions to Tesla | interpretation | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume EA26002 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions'; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, letter to Tesla, Inc., 'Information Request ID EA26002-01' (Engineering Analysis EA26002), 2 July 2026 | medium |
| Recovery: accountability | Preliminary Evaluation PE24031 opened 17 October 2024 (estimated 2,410,002 vehicles, four crashes). NHTSA closed it and opened Engineering Analysis EA26002 on 18 March 2026 (estimated 3,203,754 vehicles, nine crashes, and six more potentially related incidents to analyse). Information request EA26002-01 was sent to Tesla on 2 July 2026 with a response due 12 August 2026; NHTSA has granted Tesla partial extensions, the latest on 22 September 2026 moving one answer to 18 November 2026. Outcome pending | fact | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions'; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (closing), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions'; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume EA26002 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions'; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, letter to Tesla, Inc., 'Information Request ID EA26002-01' (Engineering Analysis EA26002), 2 July 2026; NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, 'Memo Granting IR Response Extension Request for EA26002-01', 22 September 2026 | high |
Controls
| Status | Control | Canonical |
|---|---|---|
| failed | Degraded-visibility detection and driver warning: NHTSA's stated concern is that FSD's degradation detection system, as first deployed and as updated, fails to detect a degraded state in glare and airborne obscurants and to warn the driver in time (concerns under investigation, not a finding) | C-I3 Degraded-input detection |
| succeeded | Mandatory crash reports under NHTSA's Standing General Order prompted the investigation; NHTSA also records Tesla's description of internal data and labeling limitations that NHTSA believes could have led to under-reporting of these crashes | C-V2 Reporting integrity |
| absent | No hard restriction on engaging FSD in reduced visibility is evidenced: NHTSA is still asking Tesla which reduced-visibility conditions make the system disengage, and quotes Tesla posts that FSD Supervised 'can drive in whiteout conditions' and 'isn't limited to select highways or specific conditions' | C-E2 Hard domain restriction |
Unmapped
- Assurance before action: whether the controls were adequate for the envelope is the question itself
Inference
inference A case about sensing. The regulator's stated focus is whether a camera-only driver-assistance system detects when glare, fog or dust has degraded its own perception, and warns the human supervising it in time to respond; in the crashes it reviewed, it says the system did not detect the problem or did not warn until immediately before the crash. The record does not show a defect finding or a recall, and in March 2026 the regulator said it had no information on when the maker's updated detection was deployed or which vehicles had it. It is the physical twin of an agent that keeps acting on inputs it cannot verify without saying so.
Sources
| ID | Record | Type | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE24031 | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | regulator primary record | static.nhtsa.gov ↗ checked 2026-10-20 |
| EA26002 | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, letter to Tesla, Inc., 'Information Request ID EA26002-01' (Engineering Analysis EA26002), 2 July 2026 | regulator primary record | static.nhtsa.gov ↗ checked 2026-10-20 |
| EA26002_OPEN | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume EA26002 (opening), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | regulator primary record | static.nhtsa.gov ↗ checked 2026-10-20 |
| PE24031_CLOSE | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, ODI Resume PE24031 (closing), subject 'FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions' | regulator primary record | static.nhtsa.gov ↗ checked 2026-10-20 |
| EA26002_EXT | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, 'Memo Granting IR Response Extension Request for EA26002-01', 22 September 2026 | regulator primary record | static.nhtsa.gov ↗ checked 2026-10-20 |