NHTSA Escalates Investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving-Related Crashes

by Michael Strong

Published: March 19th, 2026

nhtsa escalates investigation into teslas full self driving related crashes

The ongoing investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in crashes involving Tesla vehicles while using Full Self-Driving is being escalated due to additional reports.

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) just opened an “Engineering Analysis” to closely examine Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta and Full Self Driving (Supervised) degradation detection system.

“The focus of this investigation will be to assess the system’s ability, when encountering reduced roadway visibility conditions, to detect degradation and alert the driver with sufficient time to respond,” NHTSA officials wrote in the report released March 18.

New data, according to NHTSA, raises concerns that the latest version of Tesla’s degradation detection software isn’t working properly, or in at least in a manner that makes a difference when it comes to avoiding collisions. By upgrading the investigation to an Engineering Analysis, the agency’s investigators will expand its testing of existing vehicles and systems.

The agency already investigated problems with FSD in diminished conditions, such as night driving or difficult weather. During that October 2024 query, Tesla claimed to install an improved version of “Tesla Vision,” it’s camera-only-based system and software for its FSD program — specifically an updated version of its degradation detection system.

“On June 28, 2024, the day after Tesla submitted the SGO report of the November 28, 2023 fatal crash listed in this document, Tesla began developing an update to the degradation detection system. At this time, ODI does not have information on when the update was deployed and which vehicles have the updated system,” the agency wrote in the March 18 report.

Tesla’s been battling issues with its semi-autonomous (Autopilot) and fully autonomous (by Tesla’s estimation) FSD program for years. The company’s been involved in a slew of crashes of vehicles sitting on the side of the road, a great number of them emergency vehicles rendering assistance.

The company’s maintained the system is safe, but Tesla’s goal is for a zero-crash society so it continues to work in refining FSD. As is often the case, Tesla and CEO Elon Musk took to social media, specifically X (formerly Twitter), to encourage people to try Full Self-Driving, making claims that it’s perfect safe.

“Try Tesla self-driving! It’s awesome,” Musk posted late on March 18 in a reply to a compliment about the system by another poster. Prior to that, Tesla issued a post on X featuring a bar graph showing that Tesla’s driven with FSD Supervised are far safer than any other vehicles on the road.

[Images: Tesla]

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Michael Strong

Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.

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MaintenanceCosts on Mar 20, 2026

All hail our robotic grass-massacring overlords.

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NigelShiftright on Mar 23, 2026

No interest whatever in a self driving vehicle unless I can take a nap or do a British crossword puzzle while reclining my seat.

The human brain is just not wired to sit and monitor something that never changes for hours on end. Unless maybe you're Homer Simpson. My impression of a ride in today's self drivers:

Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....(zzz)Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....(zzzzzzzz)Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....Mmmmmm.....everything is fine....WOOAHHH!!! RED ALERT!!! WAKE UP DAMMIT!!!

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