Feds give Tesla another five weeks to respond to FSD probe

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has extended the deadline for Tesla to respond to inquiries regarding its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system by five weeks. This investigation, initiated last year, comes on the heels of over 60 complaints regarding the system's performance, particularly involving incidents where FSD allegedly failed to recognize red traffic signals or encroached into oncoming traffic lanes. In this preliminary investigation, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation is seeking extensive information from Tesla. The agency has requested a comprehensive list of every Tesla vehicle produced and sold or leased in the United States, specifying which units are equipped with FSD and the corresponding software version. Additionally, the NHTSA is asking for cumulative data on the usage of FSD among U.S. Teslas, alongside all related customer complaints, field reports, incident reports, and legal actions tied to the software's failure to obey traffic laws. For incidents that resulted in crashes, Tesla is required to provide detailed summaries, including the causal and contributing factors. The request includes inquiries about FSD usage in vehicles involved in accidents, any alerts that were presented to drivers, and the steps Tesla has taken to address the issues. Furthermore, the automaker must outline any modifications made to FSD hardware or software, clarify its operational theory regarding traffic signals and stop signs, and evaluate the nature of the reported problems.