December 3rd 2025 – Traffic safety violations while using Full Self-Driving (ongoing)

Investigation: PE25012-01

On December 3rd, NHTSA escalated its preliminary investigation into the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software executing traffic safety violations. This follows the Office of Defects Investigation identifying at least 80 instances of such violations, including 62 driver complaints, 14 reports from Tesla, and four media accounts, with the most common involving FSD running red lights or crossing into the wrong lane. The probe is examining FSD’s ability to detect and respond to traffic signals, signs, and lane markings, as well as the adequacy of driver warnings.

A link to the ODI letter can be found here. 

Read media reporting here.

October 7th 2025 – Traffic safety violations while using Full Self-Driving (ongoing)

Investigation:PE25012

On 7 October, NHTSA opened a preliminary investigation into the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences of FSD executing driving maneuvers that constitute traffic safety violations.

This follows the Office of Defects Investigation identifying a number of incidents in which Teslas with FSD engaged violated traffic safety laws, with the most common violations being FSD proceeding into an intersection in violation of a red light, and changing lanes into oncoming traffic.

A link to the ODI Resume can be found here. 

Read media reporting here and here.

September 15th 2025 – Electronic door handles become inoperative (Ongoing)

Investigation:PE25010

On September 15, 2025, NHTSA opened an investigation into Tesla’s electrically powered doors becoming inoperative. The probe followed an investigation from Bloomberg into fatal Tesla crashes where occupants were trapped inside a burning vehicle due to a loss of power.

The ODI report can be found here.

Read media reporting here and here.

August 19th 2025 – Delayed Reporting of FSD/Autopilot Crashes (Ongoing)

Investigation:AQ25002

On August 19, 2025, NHTSA opened an investigation into Tesla reporting FSD and Autopilot crashes to the regulator months after the accidents occurred, violating NHTSA’s Standing General Order requirement to report crashes within one or five days of Tesla receiving notice of the crash.

The ODI report can be found here.

Read media reporting here and here.

January 6th 2025 – Actual Smart Summon and Smart Summon fail to detect posts or parked vehicles (Ongoing)

Investigation:PE24033

On January 6, 2025, NHTSA announced that The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) had received a complaint alleging that an Actually Smart Summon session resulted in a crash. NHTSA also confirmed that it had reviewed at least three media reports of apparently similar crashes. All four incidents involve the subject Tesla vehicles operating in Actually Smart Summon failing to detect posts or parked vehicles, resulting in a crash.

The ODI has launched a preliminary investigation into the crashes, and will “investigate Actually Smart Summon’s capabilities as they relate to the subject and similar crashes, including the system’s operation and field performance in FSD equipped vehicles and vehicles included in free trial offers.” NHTSA is also investigating “the top speed that a vehicle can attain while Actually Smart Summon is engaged, designed-in operating restrictions for usage on public roads, and line of sight requirements.”

The ODI report can be found here.

Read media reporting here and here.

November 5th 2024 – False advertising of Full Self-Driving

Information Request ID PE24031-01

On November 5, 2024, NHTSA sent a letter to Eddie Gates, the director of Field Quality at Tesla to notify him of a preliminary investigation into FSD’s failure to detect and respond appropriately in limited visibility scenarios. The letter requested that Tesla “revisit its communications” to ensure that its marketing is consistent with FSD’s capabilities.

The letter can be found here.

Read media reporting here and here.

October 17th 2024 – FSD Collisions in Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions (Ongoing)

Investigation:PE24031

On October 17, 2024, NHTSA announced that the Office of Defects Investigation found four SGO reports involving FSD-engaged collisions in low-light or reduced visibility conditions including sunlight glare, fog, and dust, one of which resulted in a fatality.

The investigation will assess FSD’s ability to detect and respond to reduced visibility conditions, whether similar FSD crashes have occurred in these conditions, and any FSD updates that may affect its performance in said conditions.

The investigation affects all Tesla models, including Cybertrucks.

The ODI report can be found here.

Read media reporting here and here.

December 12th 2023 – Autopilot Recall

NHTSA Recall No. : 23V-838

NHTSA began its investigation in 2021, after receiving 11 reports that Teslas that were using Autopilot crashed into parked emergency vehicles.

In December 2023, NHTSA announced that Tesla was recalling over 2m of its vehicles due to deficiencies in Tesla Autopilot’s driver monitoring system. NHTSA also found that Tesla Autopilot could be engaged outside of its operational design domain. Tesla states that Autopilot is designed for use on controlled access freeways, however Tesla permits Autopilot to be engaged on roads with cross traffic.

NHTSA required Tesla to improve Autopilot’s driver monitoring system by incorporating “additional controls and alerts…to further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility whenever Autosteer is engaged, which includes keeping their hands on the steering wheel and paying attention to the roadway”. The Recall Notice also required Tesla to implement “additional checks upon engaging Autosteer and while using the feature outside controlled access highways”.

The Recall Notice can be found here.

Tesla responded to the recall by issuing an OTA software update in December 2023. However, Autopilot’s driver monitoring system remains defective and Autopilot can still be engaged on any road with lane markings.

Read media reporting here and here.

June 8th 2022 – Driver Monitoring System (Completed)

Investigation: EA22002

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation investigated how Tesla’s Autopilot may exacerbate human factors or behavioral safety risks by undermining the effectiveness of the driver’s supervision. They The ODI analysed 956 crashes and found that in 467 crashes, collisions occurred in three instances:

1. The front of the Tesla struck a vehicle or obstacle with sufficient time for an attentive drive to respond and avoid/mitigate the crash (211 cases)
2. The Tesla left the road when Autosteer was accidentally disengaged by the driver (111 cases)
3. The Tesla left the road in low-traction conditions such as slippery pavement (145 cases)

Overall, the investigation concluded that Autopilot controls “did not sufficiently ensure driver attention and appropriate use”, but the software “invited greater driver confidence via its higher control authority and ease of engagement”.

Tesla responded to the investigation by issuing an OTA software update. As a result, Tesla recalled all models equipped with Autopilot and remedied the defect with an OTA software update that added controls and alerts, as well as more warnings to drivers to remain attentive and keep their hands on the wheel.

The ODI report can be found here.

This was addressed by Tesla Recall 23V838. Please find a link to the recall report here. On 25 April 2024 NHTSA published an analysis of trends it had observed in its investigations into Tesla’s self-driving software, here.

See media reporting here and here.

July 3rd 2023 – NHTSA Letter to Tesla re Driver Monitoring

Engineering Analysis No: EA22-002

On July 3, 2023, NHTSA sent the below letter to Tesla asking for more detailed information regarding the efficacy of its driver monitoring system.

The letter can be found here.

Read media reporting here and here.

February 15th 2023 – Full Self-Driving Recall

NHTSA Recall No. : 23V-085

In February 2023 NHTSA ordered a recall to change the FSD software on all of the more than 360,000 Teslas then on US roads with the feature. It found FSD “led to an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety based on insufficient adherence to traffic safety laws.”

NHTSA warned that FSD could violate traffic laws at some intersections “before some drivers may intervene…The FSD Beta system may allow the vehicle to act unsafe around intersections, such as traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution”.

The Recall Notice can be found here.

Tesla responded to the recall by issuing an OTA software update in *Month/year*. However, the software update seems to have been ineffective and Tesla FSD will still make these same safety critical errors, as evidenced here, here and here.

Read media reporting here and here.

February 2nd 2022 – Full Self-Driving Rolling Stop Sign Recall

NHTSA Recall No. : 22V-037

Tesla recalled nearly 54,000 vehicles because a software feature lets them roll through stop signs. NHTSA met with Tesla twice to discuss the feature and Tesla issued the recall the day after its second meeting with NHTSA.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the recall covers some 2016-2022 Model S and Model X, 2017-2022 Model 3, and 2020-2022 Model Y vehicles. NHTSA said the feature also known as FSD Beta may allow vehicles to travel through an all-way stop intersection without first coming to a stop.

The ODI report can be found here.

See media reporting here and here.

November 5 2024 – NHTSA investigation re Tesla misrepresenting Full Self-Driving

On 5 November, 2024, NHTSA sent a letter to Tesla  expressing concern that Tesla wasendorsing drivers using FSD while distracted in its social media messaging.

NHTSA’s letter to Tesla can be found here.

Tesla does not appear to have taken any action to address this and still regularly advertises and endorses drivers using FSD while distracted. See here, here and here.

See media reporting here and here.

Please see below a list of lawsuits involving Autopilot and FSD crashes. These are claims brought directly in response to serious and fatal accidents.

Montgomery County TX First Responder Crash

Dalton Fields et al v. Tesla Inc. et al

Crash occurred on February 27th 2021 in Splendora, Texas
Complaint filed on September 27th 2021

This incident was featured in a Wall Street Journal investigation into self-driving Tesla’s crashes with first responders. A Model X with Autopilot engaged collided with five police officers on a Texas freeway, while the officers were conducting a traffic stop. All were badly injured.

The five deputy constables who were injured are suing Tesla for $20m in damages.

The complaint can be found here.

The latest developments in the case are unclear and have not been made publicly available.

See media reporting here.

Hans Von Ohain case

Bass v. Tesla, Inc.

Crash occurred on May 16th 2022 in Walnut Creek, California
Complaint filed on May 3rd 2024

SGO ID Number: 13781-3074

This case was brought in the US District Court – District of Colorado by the widow of Tesla employee Hans Von Ohain, who was killed in May 2022 in what The Washington Post reported as the first known FSD fatality.

The case alleges manufacturing defects, design defects, negligence, failure to recall, failure to warn, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, fraudulent concealment and under the Colorado consumer protection act.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s defense can be read here.

Disclosures from experts are due on September 29, 2025, the deadline for written discovery in the case is November 2025, and the ultimate cut-off date for discovery is December 29, 2025.

See media reporting here and here.

Shareholder Class Action over Misleading Robotaxi and FSD Claims

Morand v. Tesla Inc.

Complaint filed on August 4th 2024

The class action complaint alleges that misleading statements about FSD, Robotaxi and the future earnings potential of Tesla made by Tesla, Elon Musk, Zach Kirkhorn and Vaibhav Taneja deceived its shareholders. The defendants are being sued for violations of the Securities and Exchange Act.

Per the lawsuit, Tesla, Musk, Kirkhorn and Taneja’s false statements as to FSD’s capabilities.  deceived the investing public, artificially inflated and maintained Tesla’s share price,causing Tesla shareholders to purchase Tesla shares at artificially inflated prices.

The complaint seeks permission to proceed as a class action on behalf of Tesla shareholders between April 2023 and June 2025. It seeks a jury trial and an undisclosed sum in damages from Tesla.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla has not submitted a defense yet.

See media reporting here and here.

Tesla Customers Class Action over Musk’s Misleading Claims about FSD

Matsko et al v. Tesla Inc.

Complaint filed on September 14th 2024

The complaint alleges that Elon Musk misled Tesla customers who purchased Full Self-Driving for eight years about the self-driving capabilities of Tesla vehicles.

The case is In re Tesla Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-05240.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s response can be found here.

In August 2025 U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the class action could proceed. The class action includes customers who bought FSD from May 19, 2017, to July 31, 2024, and opted out of Tesla’s arbitration agreement, and drivers who bought the package from October 20, 2016, to May 19, 2017. The judge’s ruling can be found here.

See media reporting here and here

Australia Class Action

Lawsuit filed on September 25th 2024

A class action was filed by Australian law firm JGA Saddler alleging that Tesla Australia and Tesla US manufactured defective vehicles that were prone to phantom braking, and failed to deliver promises on FSD and Autopilot.

The class action also states that “Despite statements or representations to the contrary, the hardware on Tesla vehicles is incapable of supporting fully autonomous or close to autonomous driving.”

Group members in the class action are Tesla customers in Australia who purchased or leased a Model 3 or Y between May 2021 and February 2025.

Australian law does not permit non-party access to court documents prior to the first hearing, which is expected to be in late 2025.

See media reporting here and here.

Mendoza case

Caleb Mendoza et al v. Tesla Inc. 

Crash occurred on February 19th 2023 in Walnut Creek, California
Complaint filed on October 9th 2024

SGO ID Number: 13781-4963

Tesla is being sued by the family of Genesis Giovanni Mendoza Martinez, who was killed when his Tesla, operating in Autopilot mode, crashed into a firetruck that was parked on the freeway. The family alleges strict products liability, negligent products liability, negligent misrepresentation, fraudulent misrepresentation, concealment, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and wrongful death.

Please find a link to the complaint here.

Tesla’s defense can be found here.

The judge has allowed the case to proceed under the concealment allegation and the case is currently in discovery. The latest document in the case was the ruling allowing the case to proceed, filed in May 2025. This document can be found here.

The trial is due to begin on October 13th, 2025, in Alameda, CA.

See media reporting here and here.

Monet case

MONET v. TESLA Inc.

Crash occurred on December 29th in Cloverdale, Indiana

Complaint filed on October 14th 2024

This relates to the death of Jenna Monet, who was killed when her husband’s Model 3 rear ended a fire truck stopped at the scene of an earlier crash on I-70 in December 2019.

The case was brought against Tesla by her husband Derrick Monet. Monet originally brought the case in the US District Court of Northern California in February 2022. In March 2024 Monet’s request to transfer the case to the Southern District of Indiana was granted.

The wrongful death complaint alleges manufacturing and design defects, failure to warn and loss of consortium.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s defense can be found here.

The next stage of the lawsuit is a conference due to take place on November 21, 2025, and the matter is scheduled for a settlement conference on January, 22, 2026.

See media reporting here and here.

Huang case

Huang v Tesla Inc.

Crash occurred on March 23rd 2018

Complaint filed on April 26th 2019

Tesla owner Walter Huang was killed in a 2018 crash when Autopilot collided with a barrier on the freeway. His estate sued Tesla over defects in Autopilot and claims made by Elon Musk about the safety and capability of Tesla’s self-driving software.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s defense can be found here.

Tesla settled with Huang’s family in April 2024 for an undisclosed amount, as reported by The New York Times. 

See media reporting here and here.

Banner case

Banner v Tesla Inc.

Crash occurred on March 1st 2019

Complaint filed on August 6th 2019

The case was brought by the estate of Jeremy Banner, a Tesla driver who was killed in 2019 when Autopilot drove his Model 3 into a turning tractor-trailer, shearing off the roof and killing him. After the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County found that Banner’s estate was entitled to plead punitive damages, Tesla took the case to the Florida District Court of Appeal.

In February 2025 The Court of Appeal overturned the lower court’s decision on the grounds that Banner’s estate did not establish Tesla knew or should have known its SAE Level 2 driving assistance features were likely to cause death or great bodily injury. Please find a link to the District Court of Appeal’s ruling here.

The complaint can be found here

Tesla’s defense can be found here

Tesla settled with Banner’s family on July 7, 2025, for an undisclosed amount.

See media reporting here.

Gardena Case

Maria Luz Nieves et al. v. Kevin George Aziz Riad et al., Case No. 20STCV08423

Crash occurred on December 29, 2019

Complaint filed on January 27, 2020

Tesla owner Kevin George Aziz Riad was involved in a 2019 crash in Gardena, California, when his Tesla Model S ran a red light and collided with another vehicle, killing two people, Gilberto Alcazar Lopez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez. The victims’ families  sued Tesla, alleging defects in the Autopilot system and misrepresentations by Tesla and Elon Musk about the safety and capabilities of its self-driving technology.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s defense can be found here.

Tesla settled with the plaintiffs in September 2025 for an undisclosed amount, as reported by Reuters.

See media reporting here and here.

Umeda Case

Umeda et al v. Tesla Inc.

Crash occurred April 29th 2018

Complaint filed April 28th 2020

The crash was the first known Autopilot death involving a pedestrian. The crash occurred in Tokyo in April 2018. Tesla was sued by the daughter and widow of 44-year-old Yoshihiro Umeda after a Model X operating on Autopilot crashed into pedestrians standing on the side of a road near Tokyo.

The driver of the Model X had fallen asleep at the wheel, which Tesla’s driver monitoring system had failed to recognize, allowing the car to drive directly into a group of pedestrians who had moved into the road to help with an earlier crash.

The case was dismissed in September 2020 on jurisdictional grounds, after Tesla convinced the judge the lawsuit should be filed in Japan.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s motion to dismiss can be found here.

The ruling dismissing the case can be found here.

See media reporting here.

Molander case

Lindsay Molander et al. v. Tesla Inc. et al., case number RIC2002469

Crash occurred on June 29th 2018

Complaint filed on June 26th 2020

Micah Lee was using Tesla’s Autopilot system in Riverside, California when his Model 3 veered sharply to the right for no reason, impacting a palm tree at a high rate of speed. In the collision Micah Lee was killed, while his passengers, Lindsay Molander and her son Parker Austin were seriously injured.

Molander sued Tesla in June 2020, alleging that the Tesla Model 3’s Autopilot and/or Active Safety features were defective and not ready for market, highlighting that “Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk advertised, presented and maintained it as if it was.”

The complaint can be found here.

In October 2023 Tesla successfully persuaded a jury that Autopilot did not cause the crash and found that there was no manufacturing defect in Autopilot.

See media reporting here and here.

Benavides case

Benavides v Tesla Inc. 

Crash occurred on April 25th 2019

Complaint filed on April 26th 2021

The case related to a 2019 crash in Key Largo, Florida, in which a Tesla Model S operating on Autopilot mode ran a stop sign and crashed into a parked car, killing a young woman and severely injuring her partner. A Miami jury found Tesla partially liable in this case and Tesla has been ordered to pay $242 million.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s defense can be found here.

The judgment can be found here.

Tesla has stated that it will  appeal the ruling but has not yet filed an appeal with the court.

See media reporting here and here.

Maldonado case

Escudero et al. v. Tesla, Inc. et al., Case No. RG21090128

Crash occurred on August 24, 2019

Complaint filed on July 2, 2021

The Maldonado family sued Tesla and the Model 3 driver after a 2019 California crash where a Tesla Model 3 on Autopilot rear-ended their Ford Explorer on Interstate 880, killing 15-year old Jovani Maldonado Garcia. They alleged Autopilot defects and misleading safety claims by Tesla and Elon Musk.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s defense can be found here.

Tesla settled with Maldonado in September 2025 for an undisclosed amount, as reported by Bloomberg.

See media reporting here and here.

McLaughlin case

McLaughlin et al v. Tesla Inc.

Crash occurred on October 14th 2020

Complaint filed on October 10th 2022

McLaughlin alleges that Autopilot steered him into a divider at 50mph.

The case was set to go to jury trial on September 30, 2024. However, Tesla successfully had the case dismissed on legal technicalities, including jurisdiction. Tesla did not pay any money and both parties would bear their own legal costs

The complaint can be found here.

The Notice of Removal can be found here.

See media reporting here and here.

Lamontagne FSD Deceptive Marketing Case

Thomas Lamontagne v Tesla Inc.

Complaint filed on February 27th, 2023

Thomas Lamontagne (on behalf of all shareholders who bought Tesla stock between 19 February 2019 and 17 February 2023) brought a securities class action against Tesla over deceptive marketing of its self-driving software. Plaintiffs argued that Tesla made “materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and prospects”, specifically citing how Tesla had “overstated the efficacy, viability, and safety of the Company’s Autopilot and FSD technologies”, alleging that the systems in fact created a serious risk of accident and injury.

Tesla’s lawyers successfully argued that Musk’s statements regarding FSD’s future capabilities “were nonactionable statements of corporate puffery and optimism…because no reasonable investor would rely on such statements”.

The complaint can be found here.

Tesla’s motion to dismiss can be found here.

The ruling dismissing the case can be found here.

See media reporting here and here.

DOJ securities and wire fraud investigation into FSD and Autopilot

The DOJ is conducting a criminal investigation into whether Tesla committed securities and wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers about the capabilities of FSD and Autopilot.

See Media reporting here.

SEC civil investigation into statements about Autopilot’s safety

The SEC is conducting a similar investigation to the DOJ regarding statements that Tesla and its executives made about Autopilot’s safety and capabilities. The SEC’s investigation is civil, rather than criminal.

See media reporting here and here.

California DMV investigation into Tesla’s deceptive marketing of FSD

The California DMV is suing Tesla over deceptive marketing of its Full Self-Driving software, which the DMV claims misleads customers. Tesla previously wrote to the California DMV in 2020 to assure it that a final release of FSD would remain a Level 2 ADAS, rather than an autonomous vehicle, as part of a series of emails between the DMV and the automaker.

Please find a link to the complaint here.

The DMV’s trial brief can be found here and Tesla’s trial brief can be found here.

Trial transcripts can be found here.

The hearing concluded in July 2025 and judgment is due in October 2025. If successful, the DMV could ban Tesla from selling cars in California for 30 days.

See media reporting here and here.