The US government is investigating Tesla after reports that the company's self-driving cars violated traffic laws, including driving on the wrong side of the road and failing to stop at red lights.
It said it was aware of 58 reports of such violations by electric vehicles. according to the statement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
About 2.9 million vehicles equipped with fully driverless technology will be under investigation.
Tesla, whose boss Elon Musk recently became… world's first half-trillionairereached out for comments.
NHTSA's preliminary assessment will “evaluate the scope, frequency, and potential safety implications” of Full Autonomous Driving (Supervised).
In this mode, which costs extra for Tesla owners, cars can change lanes and turn, but drivers must always be alert to take control at any time.
According to the NHTSA report, six crashes occurred because vehicles stopped at a traffic light before driving while the light was still red.
There were injuries in four accidents.
The highway department said Tesla took action “to address the problem” of cars running red lights at a certain intersection in Maryland where the problem has occurred repeatedly.
The agency will also investigate reports of vehicles drifting into oncoming traffic while turning.
It said some of the reported incidents provided “little driver attention or opportunity to intervene.”
Tesla is already facing an NHTSA investigation into its car door locking mechanisms after incidents where Children are reported to be trapped inside Model Y vehicles.
In some cases, car owners decided to break windows to let them out.
Tesla recently introduced cheaper models two of its most popular cars as it tries to compete with cheaper electric vehicles often made by Chinese companies.
Her boss Elon Musk was previously a close ally of President Donald Trump before a public spat earlier this year.
In July, he announced the creation of a new political party, the American Party, in an attempt to compete with the Republicans and Democrats.
