Adaptive Cruise Control Problems of Tesla Model 3 - part 1

I was using full self driving (fsd), but I notice the autopilot gets "impatient" when (correctly) stopped for a "long" period of time (~2 minutes), but will then try to proceed in dangerous conditions. 1. I had fsd engaged while waiting to make an uncontrolled left turn. The street I'm turning onto is busy, so both lanes are going at a steady pace. After about 2 minutes of waiting, the autopilot decided to make the left turn while both directions had cars approaching. It turned towards a motorcyclist (which might be why it thought the lane was "empty"), and cut off a rather large car behind the motorcycle which almost caused a collision. I was honked from both sides (rightfully so) and put in a very dangerous position as my car was now stopped in the middle of the row of both lanes. 2. I was at a red light intersection with no traffic coming from either side with fsd engaged. After about 2 minutes of waiting, the car tried to go on its own while the light was still red. After manually stopping the autopilot, the light naturally turned green a few seconds later.

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Speed profiles do not allow safe operation of the vehicle. Changes in speed profiles result in unsafe behavior. Standard speed profile regularly results in speed up to 73+ in a 55mph zone being selected by the vehicle. Chill mode results in speeds of 58 when traffic is traveling at 65mph. Switching profiles from standard to chill results in a rapid deceleration within the lane leading to problems with traffic behind the vehicle. In active school zones, system regularly does not acknowledge school zone speed limit and proceeds at 25-30mph in a 15 mph school zone even on sloth profile. European fsd has a max speed setting that allows these problems to be prevented, but it is missing as a critical safety feature in the us version of fsd 14.

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I was using actual Smart summon to get my vehicle out of my garage. While standing behind the vehicle, it indicated that the car was in drive with no reversing lights on. The vehicle then rapidly lurches backwards, striking me and a freezer. After reviewing the dashcam footage the vehicle stated it was in drive and never once activated its reverse lights, even when they was objects and a human behind the car, still reversed at a high rate of speed.

- Tesla fsd - my son was driving on fsd on state highway, while on fsd, the car suddenly turned left and hit the concrete barrier and spun out of control. All the air-bags were deployed and car front crashed completely. The car is near totaled, my son was able to get out the car with a bruise on right hand. -no -no -no warning was on, the car was on full fsd and suddenly turned left and drove into the concrete barrier and crashed and spun , I had no time to react/take over.

Tesla fsd out of control and run into a light pole.

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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.

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It showed message that emergency brakes not available. It was related to wire hardness inside the trunk lid. I had to get it replaced. Tesla did not cover it.

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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.

When using the cruise control or self driving function the car will, unprovoked, brake suddenly and severely. Hitting the acceleration pedal will disengage the cruise control or self driving and will stop the deceleration. The error happens about 1-2 times per 20 miles. I do not use these features often due to several near miss car crashes due to deceleration error. Sometimes the car will report other phantom alerts (like curvature assist on a straight road).

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When using cruise control, there has been 4 times that the car has engaged in “phantom braking”. We were driving on highways going the posted speed limit of 70 mph, when the car suddenly slammed on the brakes and decelerated to less than 30 mph – all four times we were thankfully not being closely followed by another vehicle or we would’ve had a devastating crash. One time when we looked at the screen, it showed the outline of a person in the median but there was no person/ other obstacle at all. We have reported this to the Tesla service center and they said it is a known issue, and what we have to do is just click the scroll bar and report it so that the engineers can mark the timestamp and collect data so that some patches can be sent over the air/ uploaded at a future date. Nothing has been done to fix the issue and we feel dismissed about our concerns about our family’s safety, and the safety of drivers around us.

Tesla fsd on hw3 vehicles has become very unstable. Users complain the car ping pongs within the lane and occasionally will steer onto the left or opposite lane. This seems to have happened after a recent update between Feb/March 2026. Growing reports of the same issue reported on reddit. Ping pong Tesla fsd sources: r/teslafsd, r/teslalounge, r/teslasupport Tesla fsd ping pong effect software updates recent updates: many users have reported that the ping-pong effect started after recent software updates, particularly 2026. 8. 6 and 2026. 14. 3. "yes, this started for me after the update to 2026. 8. 6 and continued on 2026. 8. 6. 1" hw3 issues: some users with hardware 3 (hw3) have noted that fsd has become unusable due to this effect. "I'm hw3 software 2026. 14. 3 fsd software v12. 6. 4 driving on the highway is completely unusable and would result in a crash if I kept it on. " troubleshooting steps camera calibration: several users have suggested recalibrating the cameras, which can sometimes help. "try a camera housing cleaning and a camera calibration" das reset: performing a driver-assist system (das) reset has also been recommended. "also reset the das" cleaning cameras: ensuring the cameras are clean can improve performance. "ask SC or mobile service to check camera alignment and clean the front cameras, and recalibrate cameras. " hardware issues imu/gyroscope: a few users have been told by Tesla service that the issue might be due to a failing gyroscope/imu in the hw3 autopilot computer. "the tech told me it might be a failing gyroscope/imu inside the hw3 autopilot computer. " hw3 replacement: replacing the hw3 computer can be costly, and some users are considering waiting for a hw4 retrofit. "their solution is to replace the entire hw3 computer — quoted around $2,500–$3,000. " user experiences ping-ponging on highways: many users have reported the ping-pong effect specifically on highways. "while using fsd on higher speed interstates (multiple) my car acts like a.

I am submitting this report to the national highway traffic safety administration regarding a recurring safety issue with my 2018 Tesla Model 3 involving unintended “phantom braking. ” on multiple occasions, my vehicle has abruptly decelerated without any apparent obstacle or hazard present. These incidents have primarily occurred while using driver assistance features such as autopilot and traffic-aware cruise control on highways and well-marked roads under normal driving conditions (clear weather, dry pavement, consistent traffic flow). The braking events are sudden and significant, creating a serious safety risk—particularly when other vehicles are following closely. In several instances, the deceleration was forceful enough that I believed a rear-end collision was likely. There were no visible triggers such as overpasses, shadows, vehicles merging, or roadside objects that would reasonably justify the system’s response. Below are details to assist your investigation: •driver assistance features active: just cruise control, not auto pilot on these occasions •weather/road conditions: clear and dry •frequency of occurrence: this is an ongoing problem that has occurred dozens of times in the past few years. The March 30th incidents were only the most recent ones. •any warning messages or alerts: no this behavior appears unpredictable and difficult to anticipate or mitigate, increasing the risk of a crash. Given the potential safety implications, I respectfully request that NHTSA review this issue to determine whether it reflects a broader defect affecting other vehicles. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

While driving at highway speeds, using cruise control, the vehicle occasionally brakes for no apparent reason with no vehicles or obstacles in the way. The braking is severe and could potentially cause me to be rear ended. The dealer inspected the vehicle and could not reproduce the problem. There has been no previous warning to the braking.

The full self driving (supervised) system (fsd(s)) failed by running a red light. Video is available for inspection upon request. My safety was not at risk - this time - because the system waited until there was no cross traffic to resume motion, even though the light was still red. I have not tried to reproduce the problem for a dealer since it happens infrequently. (this is the third time in perhaps 6 months of subscription to Tesla's fsd(s). Tesla has not informed me of any inspections they have performed, even though they have been notified through the channel they provide. There was no indication from the car that it perceived any failure. It stopped only when I applied the brake. Prior symptoms include two previous incidents of stopping for a red traffic light, waiting until there was no cross traffic, then resuming motion while the traffic light was red. This is the first time I thought to save dash cam video.

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I was driving with full self driving active on Sunday morning and my car came to a complete stop at a red light. Once the traffic cleared the car drove right through the red light and I was given a traffic citation by a police officer. The car did wait until there were no other cars present so I don't believe I was in any real danger but the fact that the car went through a red light while on full self driving violates the rules of the road which as we know is illegal. I have a video from my dash cam but this form doesn't appear to allow for video uploads.

Tesla full self-driving (supervised) was engaged at the time of the incident. The vehicle was traveling at low speed on a straight roadway when it unexpectedly initiated a sudden steering maneuver out of its lane toward a roadside structure (outdoor restaurant seating area), resulting in a collision. The driver did not provide steering input prior to or during the maneuver. There were no warning messages or alerts indicating a hazard or need for evasive action before the event. Vehicle telemetry data reviewed after the incident indicates that the steering system executed a rapid, large-angle deflection without corresponding driver input, consistent with a system-initiated maneuver. The system continued to apply throttle during the event. The incident created a direct safety risk to the vehicle occupants and nearby pedestrians due to unintended vehicle path deviation toward a fixed structure. Additional context: when this car was in the repair shop for repairs, we were told that during the replacement of the dashboard/computer system, the technicians observed a persistent system code that would not clear. Tesla technical support was contacted, and the system was ultimately reinstalled to resolve the issue. While the direct connection between this code and the fsd malfunction is unknown, the persistent code may indicate preexisting software system instability. The vehicle has been inspected by repair professionals, and supporting data (telemetry and video) is preserved and available for review upon request. Cause of the malfunction is currently unknown, but evidence indicates a failure in the driver assistance system’s steering control.

Inused Tesla to back up from my driveway and it hit my gate little damage but the car did it . Did not calculate and crash sensor sisnt work car crash the car on fss (automatic pilot).

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.

There is no checkbox for full self driving (supervised): 3 times in the last 4 weeks, my Tesla has become impatient at long red lights and lurches out into the intersection. I am very concerned because one of those times (first time) it did not creep forward, but just took off thru the red light. I had to accelerate thru to get ahead of those cars that still had the green light. Fortunately, nothing untoward happened, except scaring me! the other two times, I recognized what was happening and put on the brakes and removed from fsd mode. I have complained to Tesla and am asking for them to verify my fsd is up to date and this issue will be fixed. Needless to say, I have stopped using the fsd (supervised) until this is all addressed.

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.

Tesla full self-driving (fsd) drove the vehicle onto a curb inadvertently, a few days after a software update. The incident caused a scratch to the wheel and a cut in the tire. Tesla has refused to cover the repair, stating that fsd requires driver attention. The issue is that the vehicle had never driven into a curb on a 90-degree turn before. I had my hands on the wheel and did not anticipate the software making an incorrect decision and striking the curb. Full self-driving was engaged at the time, and the software made an incorrect calculation that resulted in the impact. Tesla should replace the damaged tire and repair the wheel. I have the 1 min recording of the incident but could not upload the video due ot its size being more than 10 mb.

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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).

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? the steering system failed due to corrosion and water ingress affecting both the steering rack and the associated steering wiring harness. These components were replaced by Tesla and are no longer available for inspection. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? the steering system is a safety-critical component. Corrosion and water intrusion created a risk of reduced or sudden loss of steering assist while driving, which could lead to loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of a crash. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes. Tesla service confirmed water ingress and corrosion affecting the steering rack and wiring harness and performed a full replacement of both components. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? yes. The vehicle and steering components were inspected by Tesla at a Tesla service center, which identified water ingress and corrosion as the cause of failure. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? yes. The vehicle displayed steering-related warning messages prior to repair, including reduced steering assist alerts, which prompted inspection by Tesla service. The warnings appeared shortly before the repair was performed.

Component/system that failed: Tesla full self-driving (supervised) software version 14. X (2025. 38. X and later). The issue is software-only and remains installed on any vehicle updated to v14. Description of safety defect: fsd v14 deliberately removes the driver’s ability to set or adjust maximum speed offset using the right scroll wheel (feature present in all prior versions including my current v13. 2. 9). As a result, the system routinely exceeds posted speed limits by 5–20 mph with no way for the supervised driver to correct it short of fully disengaging fsd. The vehicle ignores speed-limit signs, relies on inaccurate map data, and follows surrounding traffic speed instead of the legal limit, even in school zones, construction zones, residential areas, and adverse weather. This significantly increases risk of collision, injury, and traffic citations. Reproduced/confirmed: widely reproduced by thousands of owners on Tesla forums, reddit, and x immediately after v14 rollout in late 2025. I have chosen to remain on v13. 2. 9 to avoid this exact defect. Inspected by manufacturer or others: no in-person inspection required; Tesla has full remote log access. Multiple owners have submitted in-car bug reports. Warning lamps/messages: none. The speed-offset control is simply grayed out and non-functional by design in v14. Vehicle available for inspection upon request.

The forward-facing camera on my vehicle repeatedly fogs up inside the sealed camera housing, creating a light to severe haze across the camera lens. This internal fogging obstructs the camera’s view and affects the vehicle’s safety systems that rely on it, including forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping, and adaptive cruise control. The components are available for inspection upon request. This obstruction puts my safety at risk because these systems either disable themselves or operate unpredictably when the camera view is blocked. The issue occurred again this year under normal outdoor temperatures, and the fogging cannot be cleared by the driver or by using defrost or cabin heat. The problem has been confirmed previously by a Tesla service center, where technicians inspected the camera area and told me my vehicle had one of the worst cases they had seen and told me this is a common issue. They attempted a repair, but the issue has returned, making it a recurring defect. No police or insurance representatives have inspected it. During the first occurrence, the vehicle displayed messages indicating that features like autopilot, cruise control, and lane assist were disabled due to camera obstruction. The current recurrence produced visible internal haze over the camera lens and a warning message appeared which I do have that Tesla acknowledges this is an issue and that rather than fixing it, you can bring your car in for expedited cleaning. I have read others stating Tesla changed their windshield design and it doesn't heat up this area properly any longer. This issue has happened in multiple winter seasons and directly affects the proper operation of safety-critical driver assistance systems.

Tesla full self driving software malfunctioned and turned into oncoming traffic lanes instead of crossing over to the correct opposite side of the roadway. This occurred after getting off a on ramp in ukiah, California around 2am Nov 15, 2025. This could have put others in serious danger if there were cars coming in the oncoming lanes heading in the different direction. The problem has not been reproduced by a dealer or other entity. Yet this has happened to other Tesla drivers as well using fsd as you are probably already aware. No inspection and it was sudden and unexpected.

While driving with fsd engaged and set to standard profile, fsd accelerated to 76mph in a 55 zone. This is on software version 14. 1. 4. Unfortunately this new update no longer allows you to set your speed while using fsd, you can only select sloth, chill, standard, hurry, or mad max.

Description of the defect: while driving with full self-driving (fsd) engaged, the vehicle's primary computer shuts down and reboots, causing a sudden loss of all safety features, including blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, forward collision warning, and the driving visualization. The cameras go black while the vehicle is in motion. The trigger: the failure is triggered by high electrical load. If the cabin heater (hvac) and seat heaters are active while fsd is fully computing, the 12v power supply to the computer drops below critical voltage, causing a "turbo a" processor lockup and system crash. Evidence of defect: service center diagnostics confirmed the specific error code aps_w169_turboa_scs_lkup (computer crash) occurred at the exact same timestamp as vcleft_a302_blowergeneralfault (hvac blower failure). This proves a common-mode voltage drop affecting multiple critical systems simultaneously. Manufacturer response: the manufacturer (Tesla) acknowledged the logs but refused to inspect the wiring harness or ground connections, instead recommending a replacement of the computer unit. However, the failure can be mitigated by unplugging external cameras to reduce load, proving the root cause is an insufficient power delivery design (wiring/grounding) rather than a component failure. The computer is running at full load with the newest fsd software and it can no longer keep up with additional loads. Safety risk: this defect causes a sudden, uncommanded loss of driver assistance and situational awareness tools (cameras/visualization) while the vehicle is maneuvering in traffic. The vehicle’s power distribution system appears insufficient to support the electrical load of the software (fsd) and the hardware (hvac) simultaneously.

I was driving on a straight interstate road between 60-70 mph using full-self driving around 4:15pm and there was no traffic in front, behind, or next to me. Suddenly, the car tried to make a sharp right turn that felt like more than an obstacle avoidant move or lane keeping move. I had to grab the wheel even harder than I was (my hands were fortunately on the wheel) and force it back into the lane. If I did not make this intervention, I would've gone off the road and crashed.

All safety and driver-assistance systems on my 2022 Tesla Model 3 failed due to an internal short in the vehicle’s computer, as confirmed in writing by Tesla’s technician. All cameras (rear, side, front) are non-functional, navigation does not work, and all adas features (autopilot, lane-keeping, collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, emergency braking, etc. ) are disabled. The vehicle has no visibility when reversing and no active safety protections while driving. Tesla documented the cause as an internal computer failure, not related to damage or misuse. This creates a dangerous condition on public roads since the car loses all safety systems. Tesla quoted ~$2,900 for a new computer even though the failure involves critical safety components. This may indicate a broader safety defect.

Central computer (motherboard), cameras (front/rear/side), autopilot/auto steer system. Error code: aps_w132. Description of problem: on or around [xxx], Tesla pushed a mandatory over-the-air software update to my vehicle. Immediately after, multiple safety-critical systems failed: all cameras (including backup) became intermittent or non-functional, auto steer/autopilot stopped working, and the car emitted constant distracting beeping alerts due to a critical motherboard failure. This made driving hazardous—impaired visibility for parking/reversing, loss of collision avoidance features, and constant audio distractions that could lead to accidents. I had to drive in this unsafe condition for weeks while waiting for service. Tesla attempted a remote fix but it failed. I scheduled service on November 19 for December 3 (19-day delay). Diagnostics confirmed the update induced the hardware failure, a known issue reported by other 2021 Model 3 owners on forums like reddit (e. G. , software bricking motherboards post-update). Despite this, Tesla refused warranty/goodwill coverage, quoting $2,576. 83 for repairs. Service advisors josh and andy were unprofessional: josh was rude/condescending; andy was aggressive, sarcastic, and retaliatory. After I mentioned filing complaints with the az attorney general and news channel 3, andy threatened $100/day storage fees with an impossible deadline (called at 4 pm Friday, close at 5 pm, demanded pickup by morning, then noon). He closed my ticket without authorization, delaying fixes and forcing me to contact another location—prolonging my exposure to the unsafe vehicle. This defect poses serious safety risks: sudden loss of cameras/autopilot could cause crashes. Tesla's awareness (from prior reports) and poor handling (intimidation delaying repairs) exacerbates the danger. No crash/injury yet, but potential is high. Please investigate this update-induced failure as a widespread defect. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

After upgrading to fsd (sull self driving supervised) v14, the speed limit function has been removed. There is no way to set a max speed for cruise control. The car speeds unsafely at all times while in fsd. There is no way to control how fast the car can go. It just "thinks" what speed is best. It constantly speeds 7-10 over in every setting above "sloth". Sloth setting still does not have a speed limit setting. This is very dangerous. There is no excuse for not having a max speed setting.

In the new Tesla update to full self drive they removed the ability to adjust the speed control while using fsd yet state "note: you are responsible for the speed and control of your vehicle at all times, whether fsd (supervised) is enabled or not. ".

The car, with no known or evident driver, stopped the lane awareness, cruise control, etc. All of those just stopped working and per Tesla that's expected which is surprising since it's all part of the safety systems. The car's visual cues stopped identifying lanes and as a byproduct of that, none of the dependent features work.

Safety issue: defective interior cabin camera causes Tesla full self-driving (fsd) to disengage abruptly and without adequate warning at freeway speeds. I am a [xxx] driver. I purchased fsd capability with this vehicle in December 2018. In October 2025, I had the fsd hardware upgrade (hw2. 5 to hw3) installed at Tesla's encinitas, CA service center (b. A. R. License [xxx] ). Within days, fsd would became completely unusable due to a recurring "cabin camera unavailable — schedule service" alert that instantly disengages the system. The disengagement occurs on the freeway at highway speed, without meaningful advance warning. As a [xxx] driver, the sudden loud alarm and loss of assisted driving is genuinely alarming — it is not immediately clear in the moment whether the vehicle has lost power or experienced a critical failure. This is exactly the kind of dangerous situation driver assistance systems should prevent, not cause. Tesla's own diagnostic confirmed the defect (diagnostic invoice no. Xxx, November 27, 2025, encinitas service center): "cabin camera unavailable" alert verified intermittent stream exit faults detected in the selfie/cabin camera low-voltage circuit and wiring checks were normal — ruling out wiring conclusion: fault is within the camera module itself; technician recommended replacement the defect is fsd-specific. The cabin camera works correctly for sentry mode, live security viewing, and all normal driving. It fails exclusively when fsd is engaged and demands sustained driver monitoring. The camera housing also becomes extremely hot to the touch during fsd use, consistent with reports from other 2018 Model 3 owners describing identical symptoms after their hw3 retrofits. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).