US Senators Urge NHTSA to Investigate Tesla FSD Railroad Crossing Safety

Democratic Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal have formally requested the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) system due to multiple near-miss incidents and crashes at railroad crossings, which they warn could lead to catastrophic multi-fatality collisions. Tesla markets FSD as an advanced driver-assistance system requiring human supervision, but recent reports and investigations reveal the system struggles in complex or low-visibility conditions, including failures to recognize railroad crossing arms and other hazards. The senators urge NHTSA to consider restricting FSD use to conditions it was designed for, as prior NHTSA probes have highlighted systemic safety concerns with Tesla's autonomous features. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced upcoming staged releases of FSD version 14.0 and subsequent updates, claiming the system will feel "almost sentient" though legal scrutiny over safety claims persists. Tesla continues to incentivize CEO Musk with compensation tied to ambitious autonomous driving milestones, while some drivers report safety flaws, such as FSD not yielding properly to emergency vehicles. Overall, increasing regulatory and public scrutiny surrounds Tesla's FSD as the company pushes toward broader deployment despite unresolved safety and reliability challenges.