What 432 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 Tesla Model 3

Tesla was on Full Self Driving following a curve in the road were traffic lights. Lights were red Car should have stopped but did not. Ran red light with no attempt to stop or slow down.

NHTSA ODI 11737235

Driving S/B on Ann Arbor Saline Road. Had FSD on the Tesla engaged. Needed to make left turn onto Maple. Left arrow light to Maple was red. Traffic light to continue straight on Ann Arbor-Saline was green. Despite left arrow being red, Tesla did not slow and ran red light to make left turn onto Maple.

NHTSA ODI 11733532

When adaptive cruise control is enabled (Autopilot, not equipped with Full Self Driving) car will sometimes brake hard as if there is an obstacle ahead, with the words "Curve Assist Active" flashing on the screen. Seems to happen most often on state highways, vs interstate. In one case last night car slowed from 65mph to 30mph, on a straight road, with no object ahead. Thankfully no cars were immediately behind or I would have been rear-ended. Happened 4 times in 500 miles of highway travel.

NHTSA ODI 11720867

Incident Date: Feb 1, 2026, 2:45 PM PST Location: Camarillo, CA (Pleasant Valley Rd & Village Commons Blvd) Description: The vehicle (Tesla Model 3, FSD Supervised) attempted an unprotected left turn. The system identified a gap but paused excessively before initiating the maneuver. After the pause—when the gap was no longer safe—the system proceeded to turn anyway, directly into the path of a speeding oncoming vehicle. The system failed to abort the maneuver after its own hesitation. It also failed to accelerate with the urgency required to clear the path. I was forced to manually override with emergency acceleration and steering into an oncoming lane to avoid a high-speed T-bone collision. This appears to be a "stale data" failure where the car executed an old plan that was no longer valid.

NHTSA ODI 11715176

Vehicle Information: 2020 Tesla Model 3 AWD (Leased) Full Self-Driving (FSD) enabled Summary of Safety Issue: While Full Self-Driving (FSD) was engaged, the vehicle failed to detect roadside infrastructure and collided with multiple fixed objects, including a route sign board, a walkway sign board, and an underground electrical cable. The system did not provide adequate warnings or corrective action before impact. System jerk the steering confirmed system is engaged but did not break and drive to non-drivable area and not given any disengagement warning and totaled the car. Incident Details: • Date of incident: [XXX] • Location: On [XXX] {XXX] Piscataway, NJ 08854 • Road type: [XXX] • Weather/visibility: Clear • Speed at time of incident: <40 MPH (under the speed limit) Description: As soon as i trigger the FSD it immediately tried to navigated left or right and failed and unexpectedly veered into roadside infrastructure. The system did not slow down, steer away, or alert the driver in time to prevent the collision. The impact caused significant damage to public property and the vehicle is totaled. No injuries occurred. Evidence Available: • Photos of the scene and damage • Police report (number: [XXX] • Tow documentation • Tesla collision center estimate Reason for Reporting: This incident suggests a potential safety defect in Tesla’s FSD system related to object detection, path planning, and collision avoidance. The failure occurred without driver input and raises concerns about the system’s reliability in detecting fixed roadside objects. I request that NHTSA review this incident as part of ongoing evaluations of Tesla’s driver-assistance systems. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11709397

While driving my Tesla Model 3 with self-driving engaged in excellent conditions, the car suddenly braked to a full stop. There was no apparent reason to do so and the driver did nothing. The road ahead was free of traffic, and no obstacles, pedestrians or animals were visible. It was possible to resume driving by turning self-driving off. Tesla forums online show many instances of others reporting similar problems in various Tesla models over several years. A rear end collision will ultimately be the result of this flaw if it hasn’t yet occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11701217

Full Self Driving mode (with Hardware 3) consistently will enter the carpool lane when I am driving solo. In the vehicle navigation settings, I have, "use carpool lanes," unselected. It doesn't seem to use this input in it's decision to enter the carpool lane. Sometimes it is very quick to signal and then enter the carpool lane illegally that I can't respond quick enough to correct. However, it only seems to need 1 correction for it to ignore the carpool lane for the remainder of the trip. This then can/will repeat each new trip (it doesn't always occur for each new trip, sometimes it won't make an attempt to get into the carpool lane). I have sent Tesla dozens of recorded messages that it needs to be fixed. It will enter at an illegal point, crossing the solid line, this can sometimes be a dangerous maneuver as well as being illegal for a solo occupant. Also, I don't want to want to be ticketed. It's quite a stressful situation each time this occurs.

NHTSA ODI 11692281

Incident #1 Vehicle sitting at a red light. After several seconds the vehicle operating under Tesla FSD suddenly started to drive as if the light had turned green, which it had not. I stopped it immediately. Incident #2 Vehicle was stopped a t a red light and started forward again as it the light had changed but had not. I noticed a flashing red light at the next intersection a few hundred feet away. So, I went around the block and tried again and it behaved the same. After a few seconds it started to go again. There was not another light near where the first incident occurred.

NHTSA ODI 11692447

Vehicle must have thought a shadow line in the road from a bridge indicated a wall I was about to hit, as it slammed on the breaks in the middle of the freeway. Car behind had to swerve to avoid. On the same trip, several nags of 'keep eyes on the road' were incorrect, as my eyes were directly on the road, but phone was in hand functioning as a microphone taking voice memos. Car proceeded to shut itself down while in the middle of the freeway, causing me to go slower than traffic and put me in danger as cars behind me had to swerve or lane change to avoid me as I tried to pull off to the shoulder. These forced shutdowns from incorrect 'nag fails' are causing safety issues. Nag failures should not forcibly shut the car down. Not sure if this is being enforced by NHTSA, or why Tesla is choosing to disable their auto steer or FSD when drivers are detected to be failing nags - nags should be there to help drivers, and potentially the nag data/cab video can be used after the fact should a user failing nags be involved in an accident for insurance dispute resolution, but shutting the cars down themselves is causing issues.

NHTSA ODI 11674749

Software update was pushed onto my car, after the update the car autopilot ECU no longer works. When the ECU finally failed these features were stuck or are completely broken/not working: - Auto dim rear view mirrors (these were stuck in dim mode, preventing me from seeing in rain or darkened environments such as at night or under shade, 0% visibility under these conditions when changing lanes or reversing) - Rear view camera completely stopped functioning, as did all cameras on the car - Forward collision warning no longer works - Autopilot (ADAS features in general) no longer functioning including lane keep assist - On screen navigation is locked in place where the car failed (screen shows location where the car ECU presumably failed). I am further unsure if the following features function as required: - Airbag deployment - AEB (Automatic emergency braking)

NHTSA ODI 11673796

My Model 3 failed at under 50,000 miles and gave out a series of failure warnings. It was unable to drive anymore and steering became stiff and unresponsive. In researching this I see it is a common issue with hundreds of thousands of cars affected. And the NHTSA has an open investigation into it. Tesla as usual is denying the problem exists.

NHTSA ODI 11643458

In a private parking lot, within line of sight and ample time to respond to problem I used Tesla Smart Summon. Instead of taking an obvious route through the parking lot, it narrowly hit a parked car, then proceeded to drive over a parking barrier and into a wooded field towards me and a crowded food truck area. I was unable to cancel the feature in time to stop the car from the collision as it accelerated too fast and without any initial signs of an issue. Even after canceling through the app, the car tried to continue for a brief period. If anyone was in the area or we were closer we could have been hit. Tesla replaced the cameras but claimed no responsibility for damages, citing I was "in control". There were no warning lamps or indicators of any defects before the incident. I also have the original dashcam footage portraying the incident, which clearly shows numerous safety hazards to the smart summon feature.

NHTSA ODI 11634598

There have been recent reports of Tesla FSD accidents that are now under investigation by NHTSA relating to crashes that occurred under difficult visibility conditions. A video I recorded several years ago while driving into a fog bank in NW Washington, about an hour North of Seattle, is linked below. Seeing the fog bank ahead and with no traffic in front or close behind me, I let the car proceed into the fog until the system triggered a takeover alarm. Usually, at this point several years ago, when the driver wanted to disengage FSD, the driver did so by raising the gear selection stalk. Raising the gear stalk disengaged TACC ONLY in this incident, and Autosteering remained active. (see: [XXX] ) After disengaging TACC, the car was slowed by regenerative braking but still under Autosteering control. Turning the steering wheel finally disengaged Autosteering, but that occurred second and was delayed by the driver's confusion over why raising the gear stalk wasn't enough to stop the alarm. Applying the brakes would have disengaged FSD completely - but that wasn't wise with low visibility. I tried re-engaging FSD briefly while still in fog (not shown in this video), and the system refused. This brings to mind a previous documentation video where, with FSD engaged, turning the wheel disengaged *Autosteering, but *TACC remained active. Again, the driver was not initially cognizant that TACC was still active (see: [XXX] ). I believe a subsequent recall remedied this 2nd example, but perhaps the fog bank-type takeover alarm was not affected by that recall remedy. Finally, I have one more video documenting the ability of FSD to see under challenging conditions, in this case, light rain, heavy rain, and eventually hail. No alarms were triggered (see: [XXX] ). Note: I no longer own the vehicle associated with this VIN. See the firmware version shown in the video for approximate dates of these occurrences. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11620787

We were driving back from suffolk virginia along [XXX] - which has two lanes in both directions. It was a sunny day with clear skies. I had cruise control enabled. There were no other cars visible on the road in either direction in front or behind us. Suddenly and without warning the car slammed on the breaks - "phantom breaking". If somebody was behind us it could have easily been a crash. We continued our journey somewhat shaken, and 10 - 15 mins later it did the same thing in similar circumstances. We contacted Tesla who said we should press a button to record an event when it happened again. On a later day it did and we sent them the information. They contacted us back and said that nothing was wrong with car. Since then I feel the cruse control is basically dangerous, so I refuse to use it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11620677

I am reporting a critical safety incident involving my vehicle, which occurred during rush hour on a busy highway with no traffic lights or stop signs. While waiting in the left turn lane at a center divide, my emergency autopilot braking system activated unexpectedly, causing my car's left front side to encroach into oncoming traffic. Despite my attempts to move the car, it became immobile. I attempted to reset the car by turning it off and on, but the vehicle’s computer system malfunctioned entirely. With oncoming traffic traveling at speeds of 70 mph, I had no choice but to exit the vehicle for safety. I left the car in the center divide. This incident was extremely frightening, and I am deeply concerned about the potential dangers posed by the malfunctioning autobraking system. Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.

NHTSA ODI 11612686

I have taken my vehicle into Tesla to have the issue fixed twice. They don't know what's happening or how to fix it. My car is randomly taking the wheel and steering me into other cars / off the road. It happens once a month or so, I have a newborn baby I drive in the car and I don't feel safe driving. I've recorded the incident and Tesla Service said "that should not be happening unless I'm using auto pilot" which I never do. I've looked into lemon law but I did not purchase the car from tesla directly, I bought it from a used car dealership. I'm not sure what to do, I can't sell the car because I would still owe $10,000 after the sale. Please help anyway you can, I'm desperate for anything.

NHTSA ODI 11604072

While driving on cruise control at highway speeds (75-80mph) on I-80 the car braked VERY hard and unexpectedly MANY times. There were no other cars around me, weather clear, road straight. No obstacles noticed to cause this reaction. If a car had been behind me I would have caused him to rear-end me because there was no apparent reason for the severe braking. I reported four incidents of this type to the Tesla during the drive which I believe were date/time stamped so they could diagnose (using the "report" function). I matched these with my own observations which I also provided to the service department. I have had the car diagnosed by Tesla and they claim they could not duplicate the problem and/or fix the problem.

NHTSA ODI 11602731

Driving at highway speed (75 mph) using Autopilot & car rapidly applied hard braking. There were no obstacles, shadows or anything visible that should have caused this. It occurred twice over two days in different locations. If anyone had been behind me too close they would have collided with me. No other vehicle I’ve owned have done this with their implementation of adaptive cruise & lane assist. My car used to use radar and I never had this issue until vision based detection was implemented. It’s occurred numerous times over the years, but no this rapid of braking.

NHTSA ODI 11601777

I was traveling on autopilot in left lane with autopilot engaged on 06/13/2024 on HW 101 at around 9:40am my car all of the sudden slammed on brakes and dropped speed from around 65mph to 30mph before I was able to react and recover speed. Reached out to Tesla on their app about this and they are sending me estimate of $275 to check it out

NHTSA ODI 11594305

Since the recall for Autopilot / Full Self Driving which required driver alerts (often called steering wheel nag), the alerts are now so frequent and reoccuring that it forces you to stare at the screen and not the road. If you look at the road, both hands on the steering wheel, every few seconds, as little as 10 seconds since the previous, the screen begins to flash (only at the top) indicating that you must now slightly shift your hands. These are often hard to see unless you stare at the screen and give no other noticable indicator. Recently I was just awarded a strike for not adjusting to it, about 30 seconds after the previous indication and it had no audible sound or indication the only warning apparently was a visual one. The screen is not in front of the driver like a heads up display, its off to the side. Other vehicles warn you not to use the on screen displays while driving, even tesla, so why does this feature force you to stare at the screen your entire drive. It seems unsafe to force -constant- checks of the screen from the driver to determine if you're in autopilot compliance.

NHTSA ODI 11575288

When driving in "Autopilot" mode which uses adaptive speed control, the car suddenly slows down without any warnings. This happens even when there is no vehicle in front of the car and therefore slowing down is not expected. This has happened several times while driving on freeways. If it weren't for my immediate reaction, serious multiple-car accidents would have happened. My reaction has been to quickly disengage the "Autopilot" system and manually accelerating to avoid rear collisions. The other issue is the car suddenly steer the wheel and drag the car to the side even when there is no reason to do so. In such cases, I have to forcefully steer the wheel to the opposite direction to avoid collision with other cars moving on either side, or parked cars on the streets.

NHTSA ODI 11571355

FSD Beta 11.4.9 and past versions. A possible explanation for some degree of phantom braking on controlled access roadways. FSD Beta reacts to a stop light at the end of an offramp when the direction of travel is inline with the ramp. This reaction does not occur in daylight, only in darkness. It occurs across multiple versions of FSD Beta and is consistent and repeatable at night under similar conditions. The point at which normal speed is resumed appears to coincide with the beginning of the offramp, but that may be coincidental. Since it doesn't occur in daylight it is less likely that the reaction is triggered by lane topography or some other factor relating to the converging right hand lane that occurs after the ramp is passed. In one test pass that was not recorded, the stoplight at the top of the ramp turned green while the braking was happening and the car seemed to react to the green light and resume speed, but that may have been coincident to the turn in the roadway or being adjacent to the beginning of the offramp. Another example where the light turned green has not happened again during tests. This test was at 3:08 am on a weekday with almost zero traffic in this direction and there were no vehicles within 0.25 mile behind the test vehicle at the time this was recorded. LINK TO VIDEO: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11569063

I am writing to provide feedback on the recent mandated Tesla Full Self Driving software update (recall). When I keep both hands on the steering wheel, I now get constant warnings. Specifically, even when I drive with both hands firmly on the wheel at 9 and 3 o'clock and maintaining what I feel is adequate control, the system nags me with disruptive alerts. It tells me to apply pressure and flashes visuals that my hands are not properly positioned, despite both remaining clearly in contact with the wheel the whole time. I typically drive responsibly with proper grip, yet these frequent notifications are frustrating and stress-inducing. The sensors seem to be calibrated too sensitively if they are detecting grip issues when both my hands are correctly and securely holding the wheel. Prior to the mandated update, I didn't receive nearly as many warnings. The update was not helpful and makes driving more stressful and less safe if anything. I understand the goal is to enforce safe driving, but the current warnings are excessive even when drivers are maintaining proper hand positioning. Perhaps the regulations could be relaxed so alerts only activate when grip is legitimately inadequate, rather than routinely throughout normal driving. Please let me know if any further details on my experience with both hands on the wheel would be helpful. I would be happy to provide additional information to aid review of this system. Thank you for your consideration.

NHTSA ODI 11568463

This morning, I was waiting in the left turn lane on [XXX] turning east onto [XXX] in Moorpark, CA. Waiting at the light, I tapped to turn on autopilot and expected it to turn left… it tried to make a right turn from the left turn lane. This is not the first time autopilot has tried to make an unsafe and illegal turn from the wrong lane. I once had it attempt a U turn from the right lane on [XXX] . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11566531

I am writing to bring to your attention a concerning issue regarding the recent update related to recall alerts in my vehicle, which has inadvertently led to an increase in distraction while driving. I received a software update for my vehicle, which included new features aimed at enhancing autopilot alerts. However, instead of improving safety, these updates have unintentionally resulted in an increased level of distraction while driving. Issues Identified: Frequency of Alerts: The frequency of recall alerts has become excessive, leading to a constant stream of notifications while driving. This has proven to be highly distracting and has compromised my ability to focus on the road. Alert Presentation: The visual and auditory presentation of the alerts is intrusive and often occurs excessively during driving. The alerts are not sufficiently streamlined to ensure minimal disruption, causing a significant distraction. Impact on Driving Behavior: The continuous alerts have forced me to divert attention away from the road, leading to an increased risk of accidents and compromising overall road safety. Recommendations: As per most other vehicle brands that benefit from self-driving technologies, like Cadillac and Ford, they are not affected by this recall, and do not make the driver continually look at the display for information regarding to the alert. Intelligent Alert Timing: Incorporate a smart algorithm that considers the driving context before issuing an alert. This can prevent alerts during critical driving moments, reducing distraction. Comprehensive Testing: Conduct thorough testing of software updates before release to identify and address any unintended consequences, such as increased distraction. Before this update, it was a lot less distracting to drive this vehicle, due to the limited notifications. Since this update, I've found myself removing my eyes from the road because of the increased notifications. A reversal of this recall is in need.

NHTSA ODI 11564302