Self-driving car incidents and NHTSA investigations.
A focused record of 24 NHTSA defect investigations explicitly naming ADAS, ADS or a named automated-driving system, opened since 2020. An investigation is not a finding of fault.
Make: AVRIDE. Model: AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received several reports of crashes involving automated vehicles (AVs) equipped with the Avride automated driving system (ADS) engaged at the time of the crash. The crashes occurred in Dallas, Texas and Austin, Texas. Each of the crashes involved the competence of the ADS with respect to performing at least one of the following driving behaviors:
Make: TESLA. Model: CYBERTRUCK. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is opening this Engineering Analysis to evaluate Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta and Full Self Driving (Supervised) (collectively, FSD) 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. ODI will evaluate the
Make: WAYMO. Model: 5TH GENERATION ADS. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING:SOFTWARE. On January 23, 2026, Waymo LCC (Waymo) reported to the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) that a Waymo Automated Vehicle (AV) had struck a child near an elementary school earlier that day. Waymo provided its required report under SGO 2021-01 on January 28, 2026. NHTSA is aware that the incident occurred within two blocks of a Santa Monica, CA elementary school during normal school drop
Make: WAYMO. Model: 5TH GENERATION ADS. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) identified a media report involving a Waymo AV that failed to remain stopped when approaching a school bus that was stopped with its red lights flashing, stop arm deployed, and crossing control arm deployed. In the incident, the Waymo AV approached the right side of the stopped school bus from a perpendicular side street. The AV initially stopped, but then
Make: TESLA. Model: CYBERTRUCK. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS. The Office of Defects Investigation (“ODI”) is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences of FSD executing driving maneuvers that constitute traffic safety violations. This investigation concerns versions of FSD that Tesla has labeled as "FSD (Supervised)" and "FSD (Beta)." Tesla characterizes FSD as an SAE Level 2 partial automation system requiring a fully attentive
Make: TESLA. Model: MODEL 3. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS. The Office of Defects Investigation (“ODI”) has identified numerous incident reports submitted by Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”) in response to Standing General Order 2021-01 (the “SGO”), in which the reported crashes occurred several months or more before the dates of the reports. The majority of these reports involved crashes in which the Standing General Order in place at the time required a report to be submitted within one or five days
Make: FORD. Model: MUSTANG MACH E. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS. On April 25, 2024, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE24012) to assess BlueCruise, a partial driving automation system available on certain vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company (Ford). NHTSA opened the investigation after the agency received notice of two fatal collisions involving BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles. Based on the incidents, NHTSA scoped the inv
Make: TESLA. Model: MODEL 3. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING. On January 6, 2025, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation 24003 (PE24033) to investigate Actually Smart Summon (Summon) sessions resulting in crashes during active sessions. According to Tesla, Summon is a short-distance SAE Level 2 system, controlled by the user from a cell phone within a certain distance and intended for use in parking lots and on private property. ODI ana
Make: TESLA. Model: CYBERTRUCK. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS. On October 17, 2024, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE24031) of Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta and Full Self Driving (Supervised) (collectively, FSD) to assess: the ability of the FSD system to detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions; whether any other FSD crashes had occurred under degraded roadway visibility conditions that are similar in nature t
Make: VINFAST. Model: VF 8. Component: LANE DEPARTURE: LANE KEEP: AUTOMATIC STEERING. On September 10, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation (PE) 24025 to assess allegations of lane departures with the Lane Keep Assist (LKA) system engaged in Model Year (MY) 2023 through 2024 VinFast VF8 vehicles. The reports further alleged that the system exhibited difficulty detecting lanes on the roadway and, under certain conditions, provided improper steering inputs
Make: WAYMO. Model: 5TH GENERATION ADS. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING:SOFTWARE. On May 13, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE24016) to investigate the Waymo 5th Generation automated driving system’s (ADS) performance based on 22 reports of unexpected driving behaviors identified through Standing General Order 2021-01 (SGO) and other publicly available sources. The initial reports and additional reports received during t
Make: ZOOX. Model: AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING:SOFTWARE. On May 10, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE24015) to assess reports of sudden unexpected braking in Zoox vehicles, leading to rear-end collisions, as well as to evaluate the performance of the Zoox Automated Driving System in crosswalks around vulnerable road users and in other similar rear-end collision scenarios. These unexpected brak
Make: FORD. Model: MUSTANG MACH E. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS. On April 25, 2024, NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE24012) to assess BlueCruise, a partial driving automation system available on certain vehicles manufactured by Ford Motor Company (Ford). NHTSA opened the investigation after the agency received notice of two fatal collisions involving BlueCruise-equipped Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles. Based on the incidents, NHTSA scoped the inv
Make: TESLA. Model: CYBERTRUCK. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:DRIVER MONITORING:SOFTWARE. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is opening a Recall Query to assess the remedy adequacy of Recall 23V838. On December 12, 2023, Tesla filed a Defect Information Report (Recall 23V838) applicable to all Tesla models produced and equipped with any version of its Autopilot system, which Tesla described as an SAE Level 2 (L2) Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS). Autopilot is the simultaneous
Make: CRUISE LLC. Model: ADS SOFTWARE. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING. On October 16, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE23-018) to assess whether vehicles equipped with an Automated Driving System (ADS) manufactured and operated by Cruise LLC (Cruise) were exercising appropriate caution around pedestrians in the roadway after receiving 2 reports of crashes involving pedestrians under Standing General Order 2021-01 (SGO).
Make: ZOOX. Model: ZOOX SEDAN. Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER. In July 2022, Zoox announced that it had certified a self-driving vehicle as being compliant with all applicable FMVSS. Zoox described these “purpose-built” vehicles as bi-directional, equipped with an automated driving system, and lacking traditional driving controls. Zoox was an outlier in the industry, having self-certified these vehicles rather than seeking an available exemption. Publicly available materials depicting Zoox’s vehicl
Make: CRUISE LLC. Model: ADS SOFTWARE. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING. On December 12, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE22-014) to assess reports of inappropriately hard braking as well as immobilizations in vehicles operated by Cruise LLC (Cruise) and equipped with its Automated Driving System (ADS). Both inappropriately hard braking and vehicle immobilizations can increase the risk of a crash. To assess these risks, ODI
Make: TESLA. Model: MODEL 3. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) upgraded PE21020 to EA22002 on June 8, 2022, to extend work and deepen the PE21020 crash analysis, to supplement that analysis with additional data, and to perform vehicle evaluations to understand how Tesla’s Autopilot system may exacerbate human factors or behavioral safety risks by undermining the effectiveness of the driver’s supervision. To support this work, ODI collected additional crash i
Make: PONY.AI. Model: AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING. The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Recall Query RQ22-001 to evaluate the scope and remedy of Recall 22E-016. Recall 22E-016 addressed a defect causing the Automated Driving System (ADS) to shut down on a vehicle that was being operated by Pony.ai in a driverless mode. This condition resulted in a single vehicle crash on October 28, 2021. In the submitted recall report, Pony.ai
Make: PONY.AI. Model: AUTOMATED DRIVING SYSTEM. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS:AUTONOMOUS/SELF DRIVING. On October 28, 2021, a vehicle equipped with an automated driving system (ADS) manufactured and operated by Pony.ai crashed in Fremont, California (subject crash). After learning of the crash, NHTSA engaged with Pony.ai regarding the company’s recall and reporting responsibilities under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Safety Act). This engagement led Pony.ai to submit three reports under NHTS
Make: TESLA. Model: MODEL 3. Component: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL:SOFTWARE:SIGNAGE/SIGNAL RECOGNITION. On February 16, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE22002) to investigate reports of unexpected deceleration while driving with the adaptive cruise control system engaged in Model Year (MY) 2021 – 2022 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles manufactured by Tesla. The subject systems include Autopilot (all versions), Full Self-Drivi
Make: TESLA. Model: MODEL 3. Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:ADAS. On August 13, 2021, NHTSA?s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE21-020) to assess the performance of Tesla?s Autopilot system (a system characterized by Tesla as an SAE Level 2 driving automation system designed to support and assist the driver in performing the driving task) available in Tesla vehicles. The investigation opening was motivated by an accumulation of crashes in which Tesla vehicles
Make: TESLA. Model: MODEL S. Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA. On November 20, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Engineering Analysis (EA) 20-003 to investigate incidents of media control unit (MCU) failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year (MY) 2012-18 Tesla Model S and model year (MY) 2016-2018 Tesla Model X vehicles equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with an integrated 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device. During its investiga
Make: TESLA. Model: MODEL S. Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA. On June 22, 2020, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE20-010 to investigate incidents of media control unit (MCU) failures resulting in loss of rearview camera in model year (MY) 2012-2015 Tesla Model S vehicles equipped with the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with an integrated 8GB eMMC NAND flash memory device. EMMC NAND flash devices have a finite lifespan based upon the numb
The filter requires explicit automated-driving language and excludes ordinary vehicle complaints, recalls and unrelated defects. Repeated vehicle-year rows are deduplicated by NHTSA action number. Records are source-only: follow the official link before relying on details, and do not interpret an opened investigation as proof that a manufacturer or system caused harm.
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