The U.S. government’s highway safety agency is looking into Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system again. This time, they are doing so because of reports of crashes in low-light situations, including one that killed a pedestrian.
Records show that the National Highway Safety Administration began its investigation on Thursday after Tesla reported four accidents that happened when the cars went into areas with poor vision, such as fog, dust in the air, and sun glare.
The office said that in addition to the pedestrian’s death, someone was hurt in another crash.
“Full Self-Driving” will be tested to see if it can “detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions, and if so, the contributing circumstances for these crashes.”
The probe looks into about 2.4 million Teslas from model years 2016 to 2024.
Someone left a message early Friday morning asking Tesla TSLA -0.09% for a response. The company has said many times that the system can’t drive itself and that human drivers must always be ready to step in.
Tesla held an event last week at a Hollywood studio to show off a fully driverless robotaxi that doesn’t need a steering wheel or pedals.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said that the company plans to have fully autonomous vehicles going without drivers next year and robotaxis before 2026.
The agency also said it would look into whether similar accidents involving “Full Self-Driving” have happened in low-visibility situations before. It will also ask the company if any changes have changed how well the system works in those conditions.
The papers said that the reviewer would look at when, why, and how these changes will work, as well as Telsa’s opinion on how they will affect safety.
