What 980 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Tesla Model 3

Main incident: Time: 2025-08-28 ~12:41 PM PST What happened: After searching for a parking space, the driver was preparing to reverse into the spot, the driver pressed up the stalk to shift the gear into reverse, a sound was heard and something showed up on the screen, the vehicle once again started accelerating and running forward suddenly and sharply (3 mph to 28 mph in 3 secs), driver tried to steer the vehicle away from cars and buildings to minimize danger, the car rushed onto a concrete curb, hit one blue Tesla, then hit the side of a concrete utility pole, and ran over a plant and last crashed into the chain-link french before it finally stops Injuries: * Spine pain for one passenger Damages: ** All tires blown out, tire falls off ** Severe damages throughout the vehicle body * One Tesla parked on the parking lot was severely damaged * The utility pole's base box was scraped and deformed * One plant was knocked down Similar case 3 few mins ago: Time: 2025-08-28 ~12:38 PM PST What happened: The driver entered a oneway parking lot, but found no available spot and was trying to back up, the vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own. The driver performed an emergency brake and stopped the vehicle. At the time the vehicle stopped, it was only about 20 inches away from two cars in front of it Injuries and damages: None What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Malfunctioning of the electronic control or braking system leading to abnormal acceleration Conflicting gear shifting and autopilot engagement design The right stalk is used to both shift gears and engage autopilot features, this design makes it very easy for the system to confuse the two actions Autopilot feature safety issues Autopilot features (whether its FSD or cruise control) should not be allowed to initiate abrupt acceleration to a dangerous speed in a low speed area (for example parking lot) Insurance claim filed, number: 25-647243342

NHTSA ODI 11684449

October 12, 2024. I was using the Tesla on autopilot. I was in the far right lane and the freeway was curving to the left. The car was following in the lanes, but then all of a sudden it stopped following the freeway and drove into the right guardrail. There were no alerts by the car. It did not warn to take over the vehicle or attempt to avoid the collision. The car drove directly into the guardrail without warning and was totalled.

NHTSA ODI 11646940

I have a 2018 Tesla Model 3 that was involved in an accident on 10/12/2024. It has Enhanced Autopilot, which was the most advanced version of self driving when I bought the car. It was engaged in "Navigate on Autopilot" on the freeway. The car was following the freeway as it veered to the left, but then it stopped following the lines and crashed into the side of the freeway. The result of the accident was a total loss on the vehicle. I had shoulder and neck pain that have not required serious medical attention, but it was almost a week of discomfort and difficulty sleeping. My insurance company has deemed the vehicle a total loss and I will have to get a replacement. There were no warning alerts and the vehicle did not recognize that it was leaving the freeway lines. I was not going over the speed limit. The car did not prompt me to take over the vehicle because of danger. It just went straight towards the freeway guardrail. The car is not drivable due to the damage it sustained.

NHTSA ODI 11622010

I was driving (~42 m/h) my Model 3 Tesla on a freeway and the traffic in front of me suddenly slowed down. The driver in front of me (she was a new driver with a new car) braked hard and came to a complete stop even though the traffic in front of her was moving. I ended up colliding with her as a result. I would have expected the Tesla Forward collision system or the Automatic Emergency Braking system to have activated and prevented this crash. Further, it seems Tesla brakes behave differently when it is fully charged as the engine braking does not engage. In fact the car seems to accelerate instead. If the Tesla Forward collision system and the AEB do not work and prevent such accidents, what is the point of having these systems?

NHTSA ODI 11621424

I may have figured out the common link between Tesla Autopilot crashes. Distracted operators have the accelerator pressed while the TACC is engaged, thinking (for many reasons) that the vehicle will stop if there are any obstacles in front of them. However, when the accelerator is being pressed, the vehicle will not stop. It will happily run into a wall. One second before impact, the forward collision warning turns on, followed by the ABS and the slamming of the brakes, but by then it's too late for a distracted driver. The raw Tesla "Vehicle Data" on Column D, shows "Accelerator Pedal Position (%)." I strongly encourage you to take a look at the data for the autopilot crashes and review this column to see how many had the accelerator pressed until 1 second before the accident, even if the autopilot was engaged. The 4/25/24 update to Investigation EA22002 states that in 82% of the crashes, the operator did not apply the brake until <1 second prior to impact. Tesla's Director of Autopilot Software Ashok Elluswamy also made a claim that the vehicle can switch pedals if the accelerator is pressed instead of the brake, and that technology saves 40,000 crashes per year: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11590838

While in FSD the car swerved to the left and hit a Tree. Youtube of the Crash.. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11571866

I had come to a complete stop at the red light for about 1-2 minutes when, unexpectedly, my car surged forward and collided with the vehicle in front of me. Initially, I believed someone had rear-ended me and caused the accident, but that turned out not to be the case. Although I attempted to apply the brakes to prevent the collision, it was unfortunately too late.

NHTSA ODI 11562621

Unknown

NHTSA ODI 11559604

Dear NHTSA, I am writing to report a safety defect with my Tesla Model 3, VIN [XXX] . On July 28th, 2023, at 3:34 PM PST, My wife [XXX] was driving into my driveway at my home at [XXX] . The weather was sunny and car was traveling at 5-10 mph. The car was not in Autopilot and the driving mode was set to Chill mode. When pressed the brake pedal to slow down, the car did not stop and went straight into my garage, causing significant damage to my home and the car. Very experienced driver and I am confident that wife was applying the brake pedal correctly. However, the car simply did not stop. I am very concerned that this is a software glitch in the Tesla car, and I am worried that it could happen to other Tesla drivers. I have tried to contact Tesla to report the issue, but I have not been able to reach anyone. I had the car towed to a body shop, but the car is now totaled and I cannot take it back to Tesla. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate this safety defect and take appropriate action to protect Tesla drivers. I am also requesting that NHTSA help me to get in touch with Tesla so that I can resolve this issue. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11545300

Driving in full self driving made a sharp unexpected last second turn directly into a pilón at 30 mph causing front end damage. I have the the incident recorded on video from the Tesla. Full self driving did not disengage prior to crash and hands were on the wheel, it just happened within .5 seconds and there was no way to react in time. I reported to Tesla many times and was ignored Here is a link to the video [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11542320

I was driving down a residential street at approximately 20 miles per hour. The emergency braking system suddenly activated and the car slammed on the brakes. There was nothing in the road at all. Some people were on the side of the road and they confirmed that there was absolutely nothing in front of the car to cause the braking. The brakes engaged so rapidly that I have whiplash in my neck. This was a very scary incident and felt very unsafe. Had there been a car behind me, they would have rear ended me for sure. I feel traumatized by this event and am now scared to drive. The emergency braking warning came on at the same time the brakes slammed.

NHTSA ODI 11542200

Driving in Full Self Driving mode, the vehicle made a left turn into oncoming traffic.

NHTSA ODI 11526624

While attempting to park the car in a parking lot, the car did not respond to the release of the accelerator or the press of the brake but just continued. Car continued to jump the curb and run into a concrete wall without slowing or stopping. No auto functions were enabled on the car. Car was attempting to park in the spot on the right side of the photo but just continued on and ran into the stone wall.

NHTSA ODI 11508439

During rush hour traffic on Highway 101 Southbound near Redwood City, I experienced an incident while utilizing AutoPilot and AutoSteer. Despite being in stop-and-go traffic, the vehicle did not respond to the car in front which suddenly came to a complete stop. Neither the Automatic Emergency Braking system nor warning sounds, which has been known to activate erroneously, were triggered. As a result, I was forced to manually brake at the last moment, but there was not enough time for manual intervention and the vehicle collided with the car in front. It is worth noting that every other instance in which I have utilized AutoPilot and AutoSteer, which occurs on nearly every trip I take, the vehicle has been able to respond and brake, albeit with slow reaction times and close distances.

NHTSA ODI 11508023

Full Self Driving was engaged, my hands were on the steering wheel, and vehicle made very unexpected and wrong turn sharply to the right directly into a barrier with front bumper. I have the incident recorded on the dash cam. The time from the sharp turn until the collision was less than 0.5 seconds, not allowing driver response. I have the video of the dashcam recording of the accident. Tesla also has the cabin recording of my engagement during the accident. I cannot send the video through this web page unfortunately

NHTSA ODI 11507096

Vehicle failed to detect object in HOV lane while traveling at 73 mph north on I-280. Vehicle impacted object with no warning or braking, causing car to become airborne and resulting in $19000 in damages. Note: please use ZIP code as password to access the insurance report (CSAA attachment)

NHTSA ODI 11497779

On Sept. 9th, around 9:05pm, my wife was on the driver's seat, FSD was engaged. so the Tesla model 3 car was driving itself on highway 395 close to susanville. Then suddenly a car coming, we had a head-on collision, the other car's front left hit our front left. The other driver passed away, my wife and I got serious injuries, we are recovering from 3 surgeries. 1.FSD did not give alert or warning, 2.FSD did not break the car, 3.FSD did not slowing down the car 4.FSD did not change direction of the car. 5.FSD just kept the speed and direction. “Disabling FSD” needs time, my wife did nothing, because there was only few 10th of a second. But I am afraid if she was driving without engaging FSD, she might be able to steer the car slightly to the right to avoid the accident. CHP will pull data from the car in the next few days. We would like to request NHTSA has a full investigation of the accident. Attached please find a form we received from CHP, a picture of both cars, and driving data downloaded from Tesla web site.

NHTSA ODI 11487915

This defect is regarding Tesla’s FSD (beta). In the FSD mode, the car switched lanes without noticing the presence of a vehicle in the destination lane and caused a non-fatal accident. I was driving on O’Shaughnessy blvd in San Francisco around 8:50 AM. The weather was clear, and traffic was moderate. I had turned on FSD and entered my destination address. I stayed below the posted speed limit as I was new to FSD and wanted to stay extra alert. At this point, O’Shaughnessy is a single lane on each side. The lane gets wider as it nears a major intersection (Portola Drive). And then it splits into two lanes. Finally, the right lane becomes the right-turn-only lane. Per the route, the car was supposed to take a right turn at the intersection. When the lane split into two, the vehicle remained on the left for about 30 feet. Then it rapidly began to shift to the right lane by giving a signal. However, the vehicle behind me had moved into the right lane by this time. My car did not notice the vehicle as it tried to move to the right lane. It hit the other vehicle. This shift to the right lane was so rapid that I could not react to the impending collision fast enough. The other vehicle’s left-hand front fender hit my passenger door. Even as the vehicle collided, Tesla’s advanced driver assistance system failed to notice the presence of the other car. It did not give an alarm. My Tesla had all available safety warning options on. Since there was no injury, we did not file a police complaint. We notified insurance companies. This is a severe safety defect where the vehicle fails to detect the presence of another car in the lane. Not only did it proceed to change the lane, but its ADAS also did not warn of this obvious safety situation. There was no visibility issue, and vehicles traveled below the speed limit. The FSD is a safety hazard because it fails to notice a normal vehicle and switches lane.

NHTSA ODI 11479476

I was driving in rain with lane keeping assistance enabled. As the car followed a curve, my tires began to hydroplane and the front end began to lose directional control and drift to the right of my direction of motion. I overrode assisted steering and attempted to keep the front end aligned with the rear so as to avoid a spin. At this moment, I felt the adaptive cruise control add torque to the rear wheels which pushed the rear tires out from behind and aggravating the planing, and defeating my effort to keep the car aligned. I suppose I then fully disabled the cruise control, but the car had already rotated too far to recover directional control, and it spun 180 degrees (front wheels trailing the rear wheels.) This continued briefly until turning tail first up an earth embankment before coming to rest. There were no cars immediately near me at the time or it might have resulted in a multi-car collision in a hydroplane zone, with a good chance of multiple serious injuries. The vehicle was inspected by the insurance adjuster and repaired. The car is available to examine. There were no indications of a system failure and Tesla did not concede to any. I contacted Tesla service and requested to examine the control system data to assess if the adaptive cruise control had contributed to the loss of control. After providing a Tesla agent with the time of the event he asked for, he reached back to me and stated that they were able to archive the data from the time of the accident. However, since I had claimed that the design might have contributed to the crash, Tesla had prohibited him sharing that data with me and custody of the data had been taken over by Tesla legal department. He added that for me to see the data, I would have to obtain it through Tesla Legal. I emailed Tesla Legal with my request on 5-25-22. I have received no response. Tesla claims the car has electronic traction control. I think this accident demonstrates flaws that can make situations worse.

NHTSA ODI 11479435

Autopilot failed and crashed into another car while changing lane didn't detect coming in left lane and tried to changed and crashed into it. It put everyone in the car in life threatening risk

NHTSA ODI 11470929

My 2018 Tesla Model 3 failed to engage its automatic emergency braking system - resulting in a collision due to the vehicle in front of me suddenly braking.

NHTSA ODI 11457513

Sudden Unintended Acceleration: While pulling forward onto our driveway (with incline) at a very slow speed, the car suddenly accelerated and brake was not working. Automatic emergency braking also failed.

NHTSA ODI 11456690

Car rear ended, brakes froze after reacting to a car in front of me. Behavior unexpected and Tesla should not have frozen break maybe Abs kicked in

NHTSA ODI 11448389

https://youtu.be/Q74d_rK5aKk Please find the above YouTube link that has the front camera video at the time crash. Issues: ======= 1.) Tesla auto emergency brake didn't alert or stop. 2.) Obstacle awareness didn't alert or stop the vehicle 3.) Lane keeping assistant didn't alert/warn. All autopilot basic safety settings were enabled.

NHTSA ODI 11424278

I WAS IN BUMPER TO BUMPER TRAFFIC ON THE FREEWAY ABOUT TO CHANGE LANES. I WAS ON TOTALLY MANUAL OPERATION. THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED AND HIT A CAR AND CONTINUED WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE TO HIT ANOTHER CAR. THERE WAS NO COLLISION DAMAGE WARNING OR AVOIDANCE AUTOMATICALLY STOPPING THE CAR.

NHTSA ODI 11403707