{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0521","record_version":1,"title":"Federal investigation into Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":46.6,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":3.0,"completeness":3.2,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"c1284a67e2c9c808b9618e113144a17b544131e3e0df8e836abe6921e42466a6"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"Tesla","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-04-27","incident_class":"other","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, a Level 2 technology, is the subject of a federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The investigation examines the feature’s ability to respond to reduced roadway visibility conditions, and four crash reports prompted it. NHTSA has been looking at nine separate crashes and has upgraded the probe to an engineering analysis, which indicates a problem may exist. Investigation documents show that the feature did not detect reduced visibility conditions and failed to alert drivers until just before impact. Tesla has told the agency that a software update would have affected about a third of those crashes, but NHTSA is not convinced that updates would have cured any potential defects. The investigation covers 3.2 million vehicles. The outcome is not yet decided: the agency may find no defect or may require a recall or other action.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"major","severity_because":"Major tier: a regulator is involved, as a federal investigation by NHTSA is under way.","harm_class":[],"affected_description":"3.2 million Tesla vehicles","protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://landline.media/tesla-self-driving-feature-under-scrutiny-as-feds-ramp-up-investigation/","publisher":"Land Line Media","date":"2026-04-27","type":"press","title":"Tesla ‘self-driving’ feature under scrutiny as feds ramp up investigation - Land Line Media","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.developer":"C","impact.affected_description":"C","context.industry":"C","context.country":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"NHTSA has recently upgraded its Tesla FSD investigation from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis, indicating a problem may exist."}],"impact.affected_description":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The investigation covers 3.2 million Tesla vehicles, which is nearly all Teslas manufactured since 2016."}],"context.industry":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"With the exception of Mercedes’ Level 3 Drive Pilot, the highest level of automation currently available to consumers is Level 2."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Last March, seven families of people killed in crashes involving Tesla’s autonomous features, including FSD, sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, urging him to fully investigate the manufacturer’s features."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"But a federal investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature raises concerns about existing Level 2 autonomous technology."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"But a federal investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature raises concerns about existing Level 2 autonomous technology."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"But a federal investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature raises concerns about existing Level 2 autonomous technology."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The investigation is looking into the feature’s ability to respond to reduced roadway visibility conditions, including sun glare, fog and airborne dust."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Four reports of crashes involving the FSD feature prompted the investigation."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"According to investigation documents, NHTSA has been looking at nine separate crashes."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"NHTSA has recently upgraded its Tesla FSD investigation from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis, indicating a problem may exist."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Investigation documents show that NHTSA has found that Tesla’s FSD did not detect reduced visibility conditions and failed to alert drivers until just before impact."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Tesla has told the agency that an FSD software update would have affected about a third of those crashes."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Regardless, NHTSA is not convinced that updates would have cured any potential defects."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The investigation covers 3.2 million Tesla vehicles, which is nearly all Teslas manufactured since 2016."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"An engineering analysis can end several ways."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The sources do not give dates of the crashes, the investigation opening date or the disclosure date, so no event dates are set. The sources do not state who reported the four crashes, so detection_method is left out. The sources do not state a root cause, trigger, responsible party, or any remediation by Tesla. The FSD feature is a Level 2 driver-assistance system and the sources do not describe an autonomous agent, so agent_involved, failure_class and agent-related fields are left out and risks and controls are empty because no control the sources name is tied to this incident. Classing the incident as 'other' and severity as 'major' (a regulator is involved) are my judgements. No injuries, losses or counts of affected third parties are stated, so those fields are left out. The 'Six months' and 'Two years later' timings are relative and not converted to dates. The autonomy level and harness are not stated and are left out. Source 0 is a single press article; the NHTSA documents it cites were not provided. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":"automotive","org_size_band":null,"country":"US","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"Tesla's FSD mode is a Level 2 technology in use among drivers.","quote":"Among the most popular Level 2 technologies is Tesla’s FSD mode.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"NHTSA's documents show the feature did not detect reduced visibility and failed to alert drivers until just before impact.","quote":"Investigation documents show that NHTSA has found that Tesla’s FSD did not detect reduced visibility conditions and failed to alert drivers until just before impact.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"reached","text":"NHTSA upgraded its investigation from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis.","quote":"NHTSA has recently upgraded its Tesla FSD investigation from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis, indicating a problem may exist.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"Four crash reports involving the FSD feature prompted the investigation.","quote":"Four reports of crashes involving the FSD feature prompted the investigation.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://landline.media/tesla-self-driving-feature-under-scrutiny-as-feds-ramp-up-investigation/"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"OOIDA sent a letter to NHTSA expressing concerns over the feature.","quote":"In 2020, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration expressing concerns over the feature.","source_index":0,"when":"2020"},{"text":"California passed a law that effectively bans Tesla from marketing its vehicles as fully self-driving.","quote":"Two years later, California passed a law that effectively bans Tesla from marketing its vehicles as fully self-driving.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"A group of senators urged NHTSA to regulate autonomous vehicles, citing crashes involving the FSD feature.","quote":"In April 2024, a group of senators urged NHTSA to start regulating autonomous vehicles, citing numerous high-profile crashes involving Tesla’s FSD feature.","source_index":0,"when":"2024-04"},{"text":"NHTSA launched an investigation into the FSD feature.","quote":"Six months after the senators reached out to NHTSA, the agency launched an investigation into Tesla’s FSD feature.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"Four crash reports involving the FSD feature prompted the investigation.","quote":"Four reports of crashes involving the FSD feature prompted the investigation.","source_index":0,"when":null},{"text":"While the investigation was ongoing, Tesla announced it will use the system for driverless robotaxis.","quote":"In April 2025, while the investigation was ongoing, Tesla doubled down on the feature by announcing it will be using the system for driverless robotaxis.","source_index":0,"when":"2025-04"},{"text":"NHTSA recently upgraded the investigation to an engineering analysis.","quote":"NHTSA has recently upgraded its Tesla FSD investigation from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis, indicating a problem may exist.","source_index":0,"when":null}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://landline.media/tesla-self-driving-feature-under-scrutiny-as-feds-ramp-up-investigation/"]}}