A House Democrat is calling for federal action against Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) after an NBC News report identified 43 videos appearing to show people asleep behind the wheel of moving Teslas, including 17 this year.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) asked Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy whether regulators are doing enough to prevent drivers from misusing Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems, Reuters reported.
He specifically asked whether the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has tested Tesla’s safeguards when the cabin camera is obstructed or drivers use sunglasses or hats that could interfere with detection.
Tesla, the Transportation Department and NHTSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Tesla Says Drivers Must Stay Attentive
Tesla says both Autopilot and FSD require a fully attentive driver. Its FSD system uses an in-cabin camera to monitor whether the driver is watching the road.
NBC News reported that some drivers said sunglasses and neck pillows could help them get around Tesla’s attention safeguards. Sunglasses can make it harder for a camera to see a driver’s eyes and determine where they are looking.
Tesla has since upgraded the system to better monitor drivers wearing sunglasses. Its current manual says attention monitoring remains active even when a driver’s eyes are obscured by sunglasses, while its latest FSD software includes improved eye-gaze tracking and “eye wear handling.”
Tesla’s 2 Million-Car Fix Is Already Under Review
Tesla recalled about 2.03 million vehicles in 2023 after NHTSA found that Autopilot’s safeguards might not do enough to stop drivers from misusing the system.
NHTSA later opened an investigation into whether the fix worked, with its preliminary analysis identifying 20 crashes in vehicles that had already received the update.
The agency also tested what happened when the cabin camera was covered. It found no detectable difference in when driver warnings started before and after Tesla’s update.
An earlier NHTSA investigation identified at least 13 crashes involving fatalities in which foreseeable misuse of Autopilot appeared to have played a role.
Why It Matters for Tesla’s Driverless Push
The latest pressure comes less than a week after NHTSA opened a separate investigation into Tesla’s self-certification of Cybercab, which has no steering wheel or pedals.
Prediction-market traders remain skeptical about how quickly Tesla can take that driverless push to California. Polymarket gives the company an 18% chance of publicly launching a driverless robotaxi service in the state by the end of 2026.
The scrutiny comes as Tesla tries to move beyond supervised FSD, where a human must remain attentive, toward vehicles designed to operate without a driver at all. That transition is increasingly central to the company’s robotaxi growth story.
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