Eelectrek.co•2026-03-19

Tesla is one step away from having to recall FSD in NHTSA visibility crash probe

NHTSA escalated its Tesla FSD investigation to an Engineering Analysis covering 3.2M vehicles after finding the system fails to detect degraded visibility from glare and fog.

The central finding is damning for Tesla’s camera-only approach to autonomous driving. According to NHTSA, FSD’s degradation detection system — the software designed to recognize when cameras can’t see properly and alert the driver — fails under common roadway conditions. NHTSA states that in the crashes it reviewed, the system “did not detect common roadway conditions that impaired camera visibility and/or provide alerts when camera performance had deteriorated until immediately before the crash occurred.