Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2022 Tesla Model X submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 34 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 34, in the owner's own words
I was in the car. I had put on my seat belt and reached back to plug in my phone to charge. Before I turned back the phone accelerated forward and crashed into two cars in the parking lot.
I am reporting several safety concerns based on approximately one year of experience using Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD). Primary Event: Between February 23 and February 28, 2026, while traveling northbound on the NJ Turnpike with FSD engaged, the vehicle accelerated to approximately 95 mph in a 65 mph. The acceleration appeared unexpected and excessive for the traffic conditions. I disengaged FSD and immediately took control of the vehicle to reduce speed and continued driving manually.No collision occurred, but I considered the event a safety risk because the vehicle exceeded the posted speed limit by a substantial margin. Additional Observations: 1. On multiple occasions, FSD appeared not to recognize or comply with “NO TURN ON RED” traffic signs.2. Situations where overhead or elevated traffic signs appeared not to be recognized by the system.3. On one occasion, the vehicle navigated toward railroad tracks where the roadway and tracks intersected at an approximate 45-degree angle. The vehicle behavior caused concern.4. When driving directly into bright sunlight, particularly when the sun is low and shining directly into the windshield, FSD performance appears degraded or confused. Human drivers typically use sun visors and other visual cues in these conditions. The vehicle’s driving behavior appeared less predictable during such events. 5. Lane changes are attempted across areas marked by continuous lane where lane change would not normally be expected. Additional Concern: A significant regulatory issue may involve situations where drivers intervene immediately before a collision. In real-world driving, drivers often instinctively take control when they perceive an imminent hazard. Therefore, when evaluating crashes involving FSD, I believe investigators should review vehicle data for period immediately preceding a collision, including several seconds before any disengagement, rather than focusing solely on whether FSD was engaged at the exact moment of impact.
As I was driving the Tesla Model X, I received a steering assist reduced error on the dash. There was no immediate noticeability, but after about 5 minutes, it felt like there was ZERO power steering, with no additional warnings in the car. With zero power steering, car required extreme forces required to get to the shoulder. If attempting any kind of turn, car would require forces in excess of 80lbs of pressure to execute. Once safely in a parking lot, I put the car into SERVICE mode to check the errors. There was an EPAS error, where it said Torque Sensor 1 not receiving, along with a Torque Sensor 2 not receiving. This has occurred to me 3 times, in the 3 years I've owned the car. Other than "Steering assist reduced", there is no other warning that the car's EPAS steering system reverts to just manual forces required to steer a car. I do not trust my wife to drive this car, as she would not have the strength necessary to get the car to a safe location. If this happened while turning, there's a strong possibility the car would not turn at all, a huge safety factor.
On January 31, 2026, at 10:30 PM, I was driving from Fort Lauderdale to my home in Boca Raton, Florida. I was using FSD supervised mode. Close to my home, a big red image suddenly appeared, the car started accelerating fast, and I had no control over the car or its steering wheel. The car hit several electrical posts and only stopped after the airbags engaged. My wife was in the passenger seat. The front of the car was totally damaged, and I will have to total it.
I am writing to formally document a life-threatening mechanical failure involving my 2022 Model X on January 30, 2026. While my wife was operating the vehicle, it suffered a simultaneous and catastrophic collapse of all primary safety systems. During operation, the vehicle experienced a total loss of steering and braking control. This was accompanied by a rapid cascade of critical system alerts on the primary display, including “ABS Malfunction,” “Stability Control Disabled,” and “Steering Assist Reduced/Disabled.” Most critically, the vehicle exhibited Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA), increasing speed in direct opposition to the driver’s physical application of the brake pedal. This resulted in a near-miss where the driver narrowly avoided a construction crew.
My 2022 Tesla Model X has two recurring safety-critical defects that remain unresolved despite multiple repair attempts. 1. Airbag / Restraint System Failure (RCM2 / OCS Defect): The vehicle frequently misclassifies the front passenger seat. It shows a passenger when the seat is empty and activates passenger seatbelt warnings incorrectly. Recently the vehicle displayed: “Front passenger safety restraint system issue: Service required (RCM2_a064).” Tesla attempted to repair an electrical harness in the seat, but the problem returned. A Tesla technician documented that the seat may still need a new occupancy sensor. Because this affects the Occupant Classification System and airbag deployment logic, it raises potential FMVSS 208 compliance concerns. 2. FSD / GPS Safety Hazard (5 Unsuccessful Repair Attempts): Across five service visits, Tesla attempted to fix GPS drift and unsafe FSD routing. The vehicle still attempts incorrect turns, performs premature lane changes, and misinterprets intersections. One recent incident involved FSD attempting a left turn one intersection early, nearly causing a collision. Tesla replaced the GPS antenna, recalibrated cameras, and replaced the computer, but the unsafe behavior continues. These two defects—incorrect airbag/OCS behavior and hazardous automated-driving/navigation behavior—create a significant safety risk to occupants and other drivers. Both defects persist after repair attempts. I can provide service records, videos, and documentation upon request.
This vehicle has massive and unbearable static electrical shock when the car stopped and trying to close the door as metal body of the car. and I have several Videos showing the electric shocks The auto pilot stop the vehicle on the highway for no reason that’s put the passenger in serious rear collision
Ever since a recent software update, when turn signal is activated, right fender camera feed appears on screen but is completely black instead of showing a visual of the right blind spot. Due to this other features such as Autopilot, Automatic Emergency Braking, and likely most of the ADAS functions are also disabled. Due to the vehicle's poor natural visibility, there is a high reliance on the camera systems functioning properly. Not having a blind spot camera endangers turns and lane changes, especially if one has become accustomed to their usage. With most if not all the ADAS features disabled, we are returning to a 1990's level of auto safety. The problem remains unresolved despite a recent 2 week stint in Tesla service. Since this is most likely a software issue (possibly a regression introduced with the recent rear camera recall fix) there is no recourse except for Tesla to issue a bug fix. The car was returned to me without resolution. I'm not the only party experiencing this problem. It seems the only constant is it's a problem with the fender cameras however whether it's the right or left side is variable. See this Reddit discussion: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
It have come to my attention by Tesla that NHTSA instructed Tesla to disabled auto steering for a week time, unlike in the past that it would be disabled for the rest of the drive, we have a 2023 Mercedes eqs with same system and had other cars in the past with this system, this does not exist in any other car manufacturer and you did not instruct any other manufacturers to suspend the system for a whole week if unattended, this is a gross discrimination against Tesla and grounds for a lawsuit for discrimination
23V-838 This recall made my car less safe, you should not have forced this change on my car I do not like it. It makes the car unsafe
My vehicle does not have a horn in the center. It is a button. Elon Musk told the public over and over they all had a center horn that just wasn’t activated yet, that would enable it in a future software update and that was a lie. This button horn on the right hand side never functions when needed. There is no “cover the entire right side” with your hand to make it honk when you’re quickly reacting to a safety hazard. It sets off the wipers usually without even honking. I don’t mind the weird turn signals, but this needs to be fixed. Now that they’ve announced a new model with a regular horn and lied to us about our cars actually having them but being “disabled” I think we are entitled to a retrofit of a brand new one with a center horn like every other vehicle on the road. Rear cross traffic alert? What real cross traffic alert? After I bought this car I was absolutely floored to find that when I back up, it doesn’t alert or beep or make any sound if a car is coming or a human is walking behind it. I was inches from hitting a neighbors child on a bike once and I am still shaken from what could have happened had I not heard someone yell. The car will scream and beep and flip out at every little other issue but doesn’t have this? Every car I’ve had since 2008 has had this feature. It is absolutely unacceptable that this noisy beeping computer car doesn’t have any audible rear cross traffic alerts. Please force them to fix this. It is DANGEROUS. The rear window is so high up it’s impossible to see beneath it. If I’d hit that child, I never would have forgiven myself. Please force them to add an audible warning.
at night, vehicle incorrectly identified a dog running alongside the vehicle as a human and engaged the automatic breaks causing 5 occupants to suffer minor injuries including whip lash. One occupant was a baby in a car seat. two weeks later also at night, the same event occurred. tesla has refused to provide a means to permanently disable the automatic breaking feature when a human is in control. The software incorrectly identifies a dog as a human, this is a serious software bug that has caused harm to my family. If a human is in control, I am responsible, if Tesla is in control then they should be responsible.
The auto-speed (cruise control) associated with the latest software release, 2023.27.12, is experiencing a problem that had occurred in Tesla cars a couple of years ago, namely "phantom braking". In the previous situation, the "phantom braking" was random. In this software release it is reproducible and, in my case, occurs at the same location every time I drive in that location. The car slows in a few seconds from 50 mph to 23 mph or less until I take intervention. This is dangerous in traffic. It occurs regardless of the level of autonomy selected or whether it is in Auto-Speed only or Auto-Pilot.
At around 9:10 p.m. on 7/26/2023, I was driving 2 guests on the I-5 highway from Seattle to the airport. The car’s automatic driving assistance system suddenly failed to work. Tip 1: The steering assistance effect has been reduced 2: Lane departure avoidance function is not available; At this time, the steering wheel suddenly couldn't turn, and I felt locked tightly, unable to change lanes, so I had to slowly reduce the speed, turn very, very hard to change lanes, from the innermost carpool lane to the outermost exit lane, slowly The driver controlled the steering wheel hard, and it was impossible to drive on the deceleration road when getting off the high speed. When encountering an intersection, I couldn't turn to the normal driving lane at one time. I drove about 15 miles like this, and put the passengers down at the airport. I slowly drove to the 76 near the airport. After parking the car at the gas station, I searched online to see if this happened to others? At the same time, press and hold the ball button on the steering wheel to restart the screen, and found that the situation did not improve, and the steering wheel was locked tightly. I got out of the car and found that the tire pressure of the four tires was all at 40psi, which was probably related to my hard twisting of the steering wheel. I restarted Tried a factory reset, and after it reset to factory settings, the situation didn't get any better, it was already 11:00 pm, I wanted to fill up the tires to 45psi first, and then called a rescue tow truck, at this time I found that the steering wheel was unlocked , it can be turned flexibly, and after filling up the gas, I went home and upgraded the system again. Thinking about this kind of thing that happened suddenly , I was still in palpitations and almost didn't dare to drive it out again. What's going on in this situation? Will this security risk happen often? How to handle it correctly?
While driving on an 80 MPH speed limit, 2-lane interstate in a rural area, the vehicle's "traffic aware" cruise control was enabled. The driver attempted to pass a semi-truck on left while the road was curving to the left. The vehicle's emergency lane keep assist appeared to engage causing the vehicle to swerve toward the semi-truck. The driver corrected back to the left, when doing so the power steering system failed causing the driver to apply significant force to the steering to avoid a collision. For the next 12 miles of driving the power steering never engaged and turning required significant force. While charging at a supercharger the error on the dashboard stating that power steering was not available persisted. Upon departure the error message went away and the power steering worked again. The manufacturer was contacted as the vehicle was under warranty. It was determined that no repair was needed after the power steering once again began to work, but the failure created a significant risk to the five vehicle occupants at the time of failure.
As I was trying to make a turn into the parking lot of a convenient store, my Tesla Model X started accelerating suddenly and unintendedly without my foot being on the accelerator. I kept pressing on the brake to stop the car, but it would not stop. I had no control and while it accelerated for 15-20 yards eventually it hit two other cars that were parked there. This happened so quickly. We all were terrified and shocked as I could not stop it from accelerating. I kept yelling "it is not stopping" to the person seating on the passenger side. I am confident that I did NOT press the accelerator pedal. The car was not on autopilot. My initial speed was probably 5 miles/hour, but it accelerated so suddenly that four airbags deployed, and the car is not drivable. Insurance company is evaluating whether the car is repairable, but I am afraid of driving with this car again until the problem is found and fixed. This could have turned to a major tragedy.
Driving using Full Self Driving mode, I've had at least 3 instances where, when merging onto a limited access highway, the car does not merge into the through lane at the earliest possibility, but rather goes to the end of the on-ramp before moving into traffic. At this point, I've experienced the situation where I'm steering in front of a vehicle that is overtaking me in the through lane. Furthermore, the car does not activate any turn signals; a traffic violation in New York State. (Previous versions of FSD did not exhibit any of these characteristics.) Current vehicle software is 2022.45.15, FSD version v11.3.6. (I have been unable to contact Tesla by email about this matter.)
UNKNOWN
In April, 10 2023 approximately 6:10 PM I had an traffic accident. My vehicle was parked at paid parking spot next to the pedestrian road (street parking) and I was approached from the back of the car and I recognized the bus approached from my backside of the road. I have no idea somehow, the front driver side door suddenly opened when I approached to my car about 4-5 feet away from the trunk, even though I did not pressed any door open button in my Tesla smartphone app. As a result, the opened door had collided to the LA Metro bus backdoor. I would like to NHTSA will investigate this faulty safety issue. Thank you.
The latest update of the Full Self Driving software, version 11.3.3, significantly decreased the safety of the car and increased violations of the driving rules. 1. The car frequently turns on turn signals near intersections without making any turns. This misleads other drivers and may lead to an accident. The problem is extremely frequent in the specified version of software. 2. The car ignores electronic speed signs installed in high-risk segments of the freeways (e.g, I-5 in Seattle, WA). Then, it breaks late approaching stopped traffic. This creates a significant risk of an accident - especially, on the back, when the car breaks aggressively. 3. The car turns to the HOV line when on Autopilot even though the “Use HOV Line” setting is switched off is the settings (e.g., on SR-167 in Washington). This has never happened on the previous versions of software. 4. The car often reads speed signs for trucks as applicable to a passenger car (e.g. on I-5 at night or in rain). This was also reproducible on the previous versions of software.
Traveling south on I 5in CA on 2/27, weather and road were clear, speed 70 MPH, the car suddenly ceased to maintain it's set speed and decelerated rapidly. at 70 MPH with vehicles right behind me closely following, this is safety hazard. Same problem on return trip home northbound on CA 101 - destination Brentwood, CA. Third occurrence was on CA 246 - same problems but at 60 MPH.
Several times, while traveling north on the I15 express lanes in Rancho Bernardo, CA, with the full self driving beta software engaged, the Tesla unexpectedly brakes when going under the overpass located at the George Cook Expressway exit. I must keep my foot over the accelerator pedal so that I can override the braking, if necessary. It appears to happen about 50% of the time.
While on regular cruise control (not autopilot), our Model X will abruptly decelerate. This has happened before. Usually on highways I. Road trips.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that after his wife had entered the parked vehicle and the driver's door was still open, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration, causing the vehicle to drive over a curb, into a ravine, and then crash into a tree. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was not filed due to the contact's wife not sustaining injuries. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired and was then towed to an independent mechanic, where it remained awaiting diagnosis and repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200. The contact noted that the actual failure mileage was 1,646.
This happened with my new Tesla Model X Plaid with installed Self Drive software. The AUTOPILOT or SELF DRIVE mode was NOT enabled when the incident happened. Turning into a parking spot at a Target superstore, (next to a damaged at the rear end car, parked to the left of the spot I was pulling into), the car went out of control with unintended acceleration as if the car's Emergency Evasion system got activated unintentionally. It went over the curb and made a turn on it's own on the grassed divider and came to a stop on it's own, while I was trying to apply breaks all along. It caused damage to other cars but fortunately no people were harmed. This incident happened end of July of 2022 and I have since repeatedly tried to get answers from Tesla. There have been multiple other incidents of unintended acceleration reported by other drivers of Tesla with two incidents resulting in loss of lives. My car finally got repaired and has been released to me saying they have tested and found it safe to drive although I was told with regards to my incident "the engineering case is still open with no resolution at this point". I had requested a master technician to check my car but that has not been arranged yet. I have repeatedly contacted the local Tesla service center manager who has not been able to get an answer from her team with regards to the cause of the problem but at the same time was told that the current issues do not warrant repurchase of the car like I had requested.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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