Tesla Under NHTSA Investigation for Inconsistent Crash Reporting with Autopilot and FSD

Tesla is under investigation by NHTSA for allegedly not properly reporting crashes involving its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems. The agency claims that Tesla sometimes waited months to report crashes, despite receiving notification within minutes of the incident. Tesla attributed the delays to an "error" in their systems, but NHTSA wants to investigate further to assess whether all required and available data was included in the reports.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into Tesla, alleging that the company has not properly reported crashes involving its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems. The regulator claims that Tesla has sometimes waited months to report crashes, despite receiving notification within minutes of the incident [1].

Under the Standing General Order 2021-01 (SGO), automakers are required to report crashes involving autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) within five days of being notified of them. Tesla, however, has reportedly submitted crash reports months after the incidents occurred [2].

Tesla has attributed the delays to an "error" in their systems and claims to have fixed it. However, NHTSA wants to investigate further to assess whether all required and available data was included in the reports. The agency is also reviewing whether any reports of prior incidents remain outstanding [1].

This is not the first time Tesla has faced scrutiny from NHTSA over its crash reporting. Previously, the agency had investigated Tesla's use of confidential policies to redact most of the data related to crashes, and the automaker claimed that it would 'suffer financial harm' if its self-driving crash data became public [1].

The investigation comes at a time when Tesla is facing multiple probes by NHTSA. The agency is currently investigating 2.4 million Teslas equipped with FSD after four reported collisions, including a fatal 2023 crash, and 2.6 million Teslas over reports of crashes involving the Actually Smart Summon feature [3].

Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, has stated that the public release of the company's robotaxi service in Austin is scheduled for next month. However, the NHTSA has questioned Tesla regarding its driverless ride-hailing fleet in Austin, as well as the company's plans for a public launch [3].

References:
[1] https://electrek.co/2025/08/21/tesla-nhtsa-probe-not-properly-reporting-crashes-involving-autopilot-fsd/?extended-comments=1
[2] https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-probes-delays-tesla-crash-reports-involving-driver-assistance-systems-2025-08-21/
[3] https://eletric-vehicles.com/tesla/nhtsa-opens-investigation-on-tesla-over-delay-on-fsd-autopilot-crash-reports/