DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government's road safety agency is investigating Tesla's “Full Self-Driving” system after getting reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday after the company reported four crashes when Teslas encountered sun glare, fog and airborne dust.
In addition to the pedestrian's death, another crash involved an injury, the agency said.
Investigators will look into the ability of “Full Self-Driving” to “detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions, and if so, the contributing circumstances for these crashes.”
The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
A message was left early Friday seeking comment from Tesla, which has repeatedly said the system cannot drive itself and human drivers must be ready to intervene at all times.
Last week Tesla held an event at a Hollywood studio to unveil a fully autonomous robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals. Musk, who has promised autonomous vehicles before, said the company plans to have autonomous Models Y and 3 running without human drivers next year. Robotaxis without steering wheels would be available in 2026 starting in California and Texas, he said.
The investigation's impact on Tesla's self-driving ambitions isn't clear. NHTSA would have to approve any robotaxi without pedals or a steering wheel, and it's unlikely that would happen while the investigation is in progress. But if the company tries to deploy autonomous vehicles in its existing models, that likely would fall to state regulations. There are no federal regulations specifically focused on autonomous vehicles, although they must meet broader safety rules.
NHTSA also said it would look into whether any other similar crashes involving “Full Self-Driving” have happened in low visibility conditions, and it will seek information from the company on whether any updates affected the system’s performance in those conditions.
“In particular, this review will assess the timing, purpose and capabilities of any such updates, as well as Telsa’s assessment of their safety impact,” the documents said.
Tesla reported the four crashes to NHTSA under an order from the agency covering all automakers. An agency database says the pedestrian was killed in Rimrock, Arizona, in November of 2023 after being hit by a 2021 Tesla Model Y. Rimrock is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Phoenix. Messages were left seeking information on the crash from local and state agencies.
Tesla has twice recalled “Full Self-Driving” under pressure from NHTSA, which in July sought information from law enforcement and the company after a Tesla using the system struck and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle.
The recalls were issued because the system was programmed to run stop signs at slow speeds and because the system disobeyed other traffic laws. Both problems were to be fixed with online software updates.
Critics have said that Tesla’s system, which uses only cameras to spot hazards, doesn’t have proper sensors to be fully self driving. Nearly all other companies working on autonomous vehicles use radar and laser sensors in addition to cameras to see better in the dark or poor visibility conditions.
The “Full Self-Driving” recalls arrived after a three-year investigation into Tesla's less-sophisticated Autopilot system crashing into emergency and other vehicles parked on highways, many with warning lights flashing.
That investigation was closed last April after the agency pressured Tesla into recalling its vehicles to bolster a weak system that made sure drivers are paying attention. A few weeks after the recall, NHTSA began investigating whether the recall was working.
The investigation that was opened Thursday enters new territory for NHTSA, which previously had viewed Tesla's systems as assisting drivers rather than driving themselves. With the new probe, the agency is focusing on the capabilities of “Full Self-Driving" rather than simply making sure drivers are paying attention.
Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, said the previous investigation of Autopilot didn't look at why the Teslas weren't seeing and stopping for emergency vehicles.
“Before they were kind of putting the onus on the driver rather than the car,” he said. “Here they're saying these systems are not capable of appropriately detecting safety hazards whether the drivers are paying attention or not.”
US to probe Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' system after pedestrian killed in low visibility conditions
The logo of Tesla car is pictured at the Paris Auto Show, in Paris, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
US to probe Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' system after pedestrian killed in low visibility conditions
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging around their records Friday after Netflix jumped and CVS Health slid amid mixed reports on profits.
The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in early trading and approaching its all-time high set early this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 169 points, or 0.4%, a day after setting its own record, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time.
Netflix jumped 8.6% after the streaming giant reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. That was despite a slowdown in subscriber growth.
It helped offset a 6.7% drop for CVS Health, which said it’s likely to report a profit for the latest quarter that’s well below what analysts had been expecting. The company also said David Joyner, an executive vice president, is taking over as president and CEO for Karen Lynch.
Trading overall on Wall Street remained relatively calm, as the S&P 500 heads toward the close of a sixth straight winning week, which would be its longest such streak of the year.
Solid economic data has boosted hopes that the U.S. economy could make a perfect escape from the worst inflation in generations, one that ends without a recession that many investors had seen as nearly inevitable. And with the Federal Reserve now cutting interest rates to keep the economy humming, the expectation among optimists is that stocks can rise even further.
But critics are warning that stock prices look too expensive given how much faster they’ve climbed than corporate profits.
American Express fell 4.8% despite reporting better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and it said its revenue for the full year of 2024 will likely come in at the lower end of the forecasted range it gave at the start of the year.
SLB, the giant that helps companies extract oil and natural gas, fell 1.7% after delivering a mixed earnings report. Its profit edged past analysts’ expectations, but its revenue fell short as lower crude prices pushed some international producers to be cautious with their spending. CEO Olivier Le Peuch said revenue grew in the Middle East and Asia, along with offshore North America, but declined in Latin America.
Oil prices tumbled this week as worries receded that Israel will attack Iranian oil facilities as part of its retaliation for Iran’s missile attack early this month. Iran is a major producer of crude, and a strike could upend its exports to China and elsewhere. Concerns about the strength of demand because of China’s flagging economic growth have also hit oil prices.
A barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell another 1.2% Friday and was heading for a 6.9% decline for the week. It’s back below $74 after nearing $81 early last week.
On the winning side of Wall Street was Intuitive Surgical, which climbed 6.8% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. The company, whose robotic-assisted systems allow for less invasive surgery, also delivered better revenue than expected.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.06% from 4.10% late Thursday.
Traders are coalescing around the idea that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate by just a quarter of a percentage point at its next meeting in November. Expectations had been high earlier for the Fed to deliver another larger-than-usual cut of half a percentage point, but strong updates on the economy have washed away those hopes. The federal funds rate is currently sitting in a range of 4.75% to 5%.
In stock markets abroad, Chinese indexes jumped in their latest sharp swing. Stocks rose 2.9% in Shanghai and 3.6% in Hong Kong after a report showed growth slowed during the summer for the world’s second-largest economy.
The slowdown, exacerbated by a weak real-estate market, has raised expectations for big stimulus from the Chinese government and central bank, though doubts are still prevalent about how much effect they will have.
Stock indexes were mixed elsewhere in Asia and Europe.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
FILE - American flags, left, hang from the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
