NHTSA investigating Tesla FSD after fatal crash that killed a pedestrian

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating Full Self Driving (FSD), a self-driving technology developed by electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla.

This preliminary evaluation investigation could lead to a full-scale recall if the rest of the vehicle poses threats to passenger and road safety.

The investigation was opened after four crash reports that occurred after engaging FSD in scenarios including low-roadway visibility such as sun glare, fog, or airborne dust.

In November 2023, a pedestrian was killed in Rimrock, Arizona after colliding with a 2021 Tesla Model Y. A second crash caused injury to the involved people.

The investigation covers 2016-2024 Model S and X, 2017-2024 Model 3, 2020-2024 Model Y, and 2023-2024 Cybertruck electric vehicles (EVs).

Full Self Driving is a supervised autonomous technology, that enables cars to drive automatically on public roads. It can detect pedestrians, animals, objects, and traffic signals.

However, FSD requires a human driver to monitor the vehicle’s movements and take control in complicated situations.

The regulator is probing FSD to look for controls to detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions”. It also searching for crashes or incidents with similar reasons.

Furthermore, it asks whether Tesla has fixed such issues in FSD vehicles after the crashes or reports of such incidents.

Tesla vehicles have a camera-only vision solution and don’t rely on Lidar and other sensors like other autonomous driving vehicles.

These cars take a real-time camera feed and process it via an onboard computer to maneuver when FSD is engaged. Observers believe that a camera-only solution might be the reason for low visibility, especially in unfavorable weather.

This problem might deteriorate due to a lack of backup sensors.

Its upcoming unsupervised FSD driving-only robotaxi Cybercab and large-size Robovan will also feature a camera solution to provide an autonomous driving experience.

More on this story is yet to come.

(source)