Vehicle Speed Control Problems of Tesla Model 3 - part 1

On September 18, 2025, my 2023 Tesla Model 3 (VIN: 5yj3e1eb9pf632327) suddenly accelerated on its own and the brakes failed to respond despite repeated pressing. To avoid hitting other vehicles, I turned into a property driveway and struck a tree. The airbags deployed. This was a case of sudden unintended acceleration combined with complete brake failure, creating a serious safety hazard. Forward collision warning also did not prevent the impact. A police report was filed by the dekalb county police department, GA, USA (report #25-074809, case #0440200), which specifically documented brake failure as the cause of the accident. The report also notes that the driver was injured by the airbag and that the vehicle had to be towed from the scene. A copy of the police report can be provided upon request.

See all problems of the 2023 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

On September 7, 2025 at ~7:53 pm, my 2025 Tesla Model 3 operating with full self-driving (fsd) engaged performed an aggressive, uncommanded turn while under computer control. The maneuver occurred so abruptly that I could not safely override steering before impact, and a crash resulted. The Tesla app trip view for trip 3 (7:34–7:53 pm) shows “vehicle on fsd” for 18 min 54 sec and records an “aggressive turning” event at 7:53 pm (2. 0 sec) immediately before the trip ended (screenshot attached). This reflects a steering/driver-assist control defect in fsd’s turning behavior and a failure of collision-mitigation to prevent the crash. I sustained bodily injuries and the vehicle incurred significant damage. I request that this incident be treated as a safety-critical malfunction warranting investigation and corrective action.

On [xxx], at just 9,526 miles, my brand-new 2025 Tesla Model 3 (VIN: [xxx] ) suffered a front motor/inverter failure. The vehicle displayed the warning “front motor disabled. ” Tesla vallejo service confirmed this and replaced the front drive inverter (3du). A catastrophic drivetrain failure at under 10,000 miles is unacceptable and raises serious concerns about reliability and safety. It still doesn't not accelerate as before. In addition, since delivery on [xxx], this vehicle has had persistent rattling and vibration issues in the cabin. I have returned to Tesla vallejo multiple times (April, June, July, and August 2025). Each time, the service manager, steve mcnerney, dismissed or minimized my concerns, blaming “seatbelt rattling” or claiming the issue could not be replicated. After July, I even sent three separate videos clearly documenting the noise, yet the most recent service invoice still instructed me to “provide a video,” showing Tesla ignored or failed to record my evidence. This ongoing defect has been reproduced and confirmed at Tesla service but remains unresolved. Tesla’s dismissive handling and failure to fix the defects create both safety risks and loss of confidence in the vehicle. A front motor failure while driving could result in loss of power, reduced acceleration, or unsafe driving conditions. Tesla has failed to provide a reliable or safe resolution despite repeated repair attempts and clear evidence. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I want to add an update to my previous report # 11690629. I think it would be helpful to provide what the max speed should be based on my input. So, I will just resubmit the previous report with some additional information. On December 31, 2024, I purchased a new Tesla Model 3 long range with full self-driving (fsd). The problem is the car goes faster than it should when full self-driving is activated. I have attached an example photo of the Tesla screen taken while the car is being controlled by fsd. It shows the actual speed limit of the road is 35 mph, and the car is traveling at a steady speed of 51 mph. It also shows a “max speed” of 64 mph which means the car may travel that fast on this road if it chooses to. Since I use an offset of 10%, the max speed in this 35 zone should be 39 mph. However, the car increased it to 64 mph, and I certainly did not use the right scroll wheel to increase it. This is clearly a safety issue which can lead to accidents. Tesla has made 5 attempts to fix this without success. On the last attempt (September 24, 2025), they refused to answer my questions such why does the max speed suddenly change to a value much higher than my specification? they simply stated that the system was operating as designed. Really? it’s design to drive 51 mph in a 35 mph zone? furthermore, they went on to say I should disengage the fsd system or intervene manually if I believe the car is operating in an unsafe manner. One reason I purchased this car was for fsd. I would expect them to fix it rather than my having to abandon this feature that I pay for. I hope you will encourage Tesla to fix this issue before there are any more fsd-related accidents.

On December 31, 2024, I purchased a new Tesla Model 3 long range with full self-driving (fsd). The problem is the car goes faster than it should when full self-driving is activated. I have attached an example photo of the Tesla screen taken while the car is being controlled by fsd. It shows that the speed limit of the road is 35 mph, and the car is traveling at a steady speed of 51 mph. It also shows a “max speed” of 64 mph which means the car may travel that fast on this road if it chooses to. This is clearly a safety issue which can lead to accidents. Tesla has made 5 attempts to fix this without success. On the last attempt (September 24, 2025), they refused to answer my questions such why does the max speed suddenly change to a value much higher than my specification? they simply stated that the system was operating as designed. Really? it’s design to drive 51 mph in a 35 mph zone? furthermore, they went on to say I should disengage the fsd system or intervene manually if I believe the car is operating in an unsafe manner. One reason I purchased this car was for fsd. I would expect them to fix it rather than my having to abandon this feature that I pay for. I hope you will encourage Tesla to fix this issue before there are any more fsd-related accidents.

Vehicle information: 2023 Tesla Model 3 VIN: [xxx] incident date: [xxx] location: [xxx] summary of the problem: on [xxx], while autopilot was active, my 2023 Tesla Model 3 suddenly accelerated without driver input. I was pressing the brake pedal, but the vehicle surged forward uncontrollably, struck a fence and a tree, and caused major property damage. Both I and my wife (passenger) required urgent care treatment after the crash. Details / safety defect evidence: •Tesla’s own raw logs show the accelerator spiked to 100% immediately before impact. •brake pressure was recorded prior to impact, proving the brake pedal was applied. •despite this, Tesla’s official vehicle data report falsely states “manual brake not applied. ” •autopilot did not disengage when the brake was pressed, contrary to Tesla’s design claims. •the vehicle logged a “near-deploy collision” at ~27 mph, yet the airbags did not deploy. Why this is a safety defect: this incident reflects multiple critical failures: 1. Sudden unintended acceleration. 2. Failure of brake-override safety design. 3. Airbag non-deployment in a crash severe enough to trigger “near-deploy. ” 4. Inaccurate Tesla reporting that conceals braking input. This defect created an extremely dangerous situation that could easily have resulted in fatalities. I am requesting NHTSA investigate Tesla vehicles for unintended acceleration, brake override failure, and airbag non-deployment. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Had acc set on 80 mph on the hiway yesterday. A vehicle was passing me and the Tesla suddenly applied heavy brake pressure to the point of tires screeching. Speed dropped very quickly to about 50 mph. I had not touched the brake pedal. Brakes released and speed resumed to 80 mph. Very scary and high risk of rear end collision. Lucky nobody was behind me. Don’t want to experience that again.

While driving to work on a local road, I approached a red light where there were no vehicles immediately ahead. However, my vehicle unexpectedly steered off the road in front of a construction sign, entering a ditch. Despite my attempts to regain control of the steering and braking systems, I was unsuccessful. The vehicle subsequently stopped automatically on an incline. Fortunately, I avoided a collision with a gas station and intersecting roadway, but sustained damage to my car’s front bumper. Law enforcement and a towing service were contacted to remove the vehicle. I tried calling the dealership almost half day without an answer, then I went to the dealership where they told me that the hardware is fine but they can’t do anything about the possible software issues which leaves me in a situation where I’m nervous to drive the car. I reached out to the company about the accident and didn’t hear back yet from them. I request a thorough investigation into this incident to determine the cause of the unexpected, highly dangerous, autopilot behavior. I am disturbed mentally and emotionally due to the accident. I also require confirmation of the vehicle's roadworthiness and assurance that it is safe to operate before resuming driving.

Automatic emergency braking, for no reason, occurred twice while on autopilot. Driving on a remote interstate, during the day, no one and nothing in front of me (and I had a passenger that can confirm), and suddenly the car rapidly braked extremely hard. If I hadn't slammed the accelerator immediately I would have been rear ended the first time. The second time, no one was near me. I am attempting to report this to Tesla, although that is somewhat difficult as I am just getting bounced around their automated systems. My passenger and I, and the car behind us were put at serious risk of collision at ~ 85 mph, due to the completely unexpected and extremely rapid braking. This was under simple autopilot, no fsd or other driving assist. Nothing has been inspected yet, or reproduced past these 2 incidents. No warnings or symptoms occurred before or after this issue. Slightly terrified to use autopilot now, as if a semi-truck had been behind me, we would have been flattened. It is also difficult to turn off this so-called "assist" with emergency braking, it auto-reverts to on every start up, which is also dangerous.

My Tesla Model 3 disengaged cruise control while going 68 mph and braked hard for no apparent reason. I was driving northbound on I-405 at 3:45 a. M. Going to lax airport in the number 3 or 4 of six or seven lanes. Cruise control had been activated for at least 10 minutes before the incident at a speed of 68 mph. There was no traffic within half a mile before or after me due to the time of day. Neither my left or right foot were near either the brake or acceleration pedal, nor were they in motion. Both hands were on the steering wheel and no control was being activated. The only noticeable environmental condition is that the road surface had just changed from a dark gray asphalt to a bright white new concrete roadway. No emergency braking alert was seen or heard, so I do not think it was a false collision detection, and there was no car within a half mile. However, I do believe the severity of braking could have caused an accident if there had been someone behind me. Tesla Model 3 software version was v12 (2025. 20. 6 046c4575d120).

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.

See all problems of the 2020 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

Incident details: • date of incident: [xxx] • time: [xxx] • location: san antonio, TX • weather/road conditions: clear, dry highway; 90 f • speed: 60 mph; • description: while driving my 2021 Tesla Model 3 with full self-driving (fsd) software version 12. 6. 4 engaged, the vehicle unexpectedly changed lanes without my input, likely due to the auto lane change feature. Immediately after, it braked hard for and unrecognized slowing traffic ahead. This sudden jolt caused immediate pain in my upper back, neck, and chest, which persists. I believe fsd misjudged traffic patterns or road conditions, a known issue with v12. 6. 4 based on online reports. The incident occurred in heavy traffic and no crash occurred, but the abrupt braking posed a safety risk and caused injury. I’m unable to see a doctor today but plan to soon for a diagnosis. This is a serious safety concern, as fsd’s erratic behavior could cause collisions or further injuries. Injuries: yes, back, neck, and chest pain caused by sudden braking. No medical diagnosis yet; planning to see a doctor soon. Crash: no fire: no police report: no accident attachments: I have video information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2021 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

I am filing an urgent complaint regarding multiple incidents involving my 2024 Tesla Model 3 (VIN: [xxx] ) that caused major safety risks, personal property loss, and serious disruption to my life. [xxx] – while in a left-turn lane with autopilot engaged, the car attempted to go straight. When I took over, the system malfunctioned severely. (photo evidence available) [xxx] – remote support failed; car towed to Tesla upland service center. June 27, 2025 – issued loaner vehicle. July 1, 2025 – Tesla claimed I must pay for repairs. I requested a written evaluation report, but to date it has not been provided. July 20, 2025 – without consent, Tesla remotely locked my vehicle with my personal belongings inside, violating my property rights. Aug 1, 2025 – Tesla promised review and report but refused to unlock my car. Aug 12, 2025 – after 10+ days, still no report. Upland “options” included threats that my locked car in my garage could be deemed stolen, causing severe mental distress. Demands: 1. Full investigation into autopilot failure and handling delays. 2. Immediate delivery of written evaluation report. 3. Accountability for delays, threats, and property rights violations. 4. Compensation for all losses and disruptions caused. Contact: [xxx] I request a written response within 24 hours. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2024 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

I was in a drive thru of a fast food restaurant and the car rapidly accelerated on its own and crashed into a wall. The air bags deployed and we were injured. We also narrowly missed hitting a pedestrian. The car hasn’t been inspected by anyone yet, however it is available if someone wants to inspect it.

I went to drop my son to a summer program to a park. After dropping him, as soon as I started, car just accelerated very fast and went on the sides. I was able to turn the steering back into road but it kept speeding and went on the other sides. In the process, cars tires got impacted. Within 5-10 secs, car got from one side walks to the other side walk and then car stopped somehow. Fortunately, it did not impact any other cars parked or other cars on the road. But the whole thing was very scary.

I have had this happen twice, once on city streets going to work the car was not in auto pilot and it went from 40mph to 0mph instantly. If there was a car behind me I would have gotten slammed into. The second time, my mother was in the passenger seat and I was on the freeway going about 75 to 80mph and it was on auto steer and the car went from the speed I was going to almost 0 and I instantly took control of the vehicle. We both could have been killed because of the last incident and I thought the cameras saw something on the road but there was nothing there. No cars were near me when both events occurred.

I was traveling at highway speeds on a highway with no vehicles or other obstacles in front of me. I had adaptive cruise control on. Then, the emergency brakes deployed for no reason (so called “phantom braking”), decelerating the car quickly. I turned off adaptive cruise control as fast as I could and nothing bad happened. But the situation was dangerous, as if a car was close behind me it could have rear ended my vehicle.

Attempting to park. Slowly inching forward while turning left. Vehicle accelerated. (sudden unintended acceleration: sua) vehicle jumped a curb, bounced off a tree, dropped off the curb before comping to a stop. Internet search shows other similar reports; attributed, by Tesla, as pedal misapplication. This was not "pedal misapplication". I am not looking for anything. But NHTSA should increment occurance counter by 1. Tesla has a problem. Electrical or mechanical. . . Do not know. They have also lost me as a customer. The car will be sold. I have video. . . Mp4.

Phantom braking (as it's referred to by experts) happened to me twice on the highway using traffic-aware-cruise-control. Very scary. I was on cruise control going 60 mph when suddenly my car braked suddenly and inappropriately, losing at least 20 mph in a split second before I was able to slam on the accelerator and prevent an accident (rear-end collision). This happened twice in the course of 5 minutes on the same highway! there was no obstruction in the road, no cars moving into my lane, nothing but normal road conditions, when it occurred. From my research, this is a huge problem with Tesla vehicles that thousands of individuals are loudly complaining about online and now in court cases in the country. I see there are thousands of reports to your organization about this, but it says you have only complaints from 2021 and later years. However, I have a 2019 and it's happening to me. And it's happening to every single model year out there, just from researching and talking to Tesla owners. This is a major safety hazard, plain and simple. I was inches of being in a rear-end collision, and drivers behind me are extremely upset and vengeful on the road after an incident like this (understandably!). Because of this I fear for my safety and well-being on the road using Tesla's cruise control features. Very disappointing. Above for the adas option, I wasn't able to select 2 options, but "automatic emergency braking" is also applicable here as that is what happened. Somehow Teslas are falsely activating emergency braking during cruise control!.

See all problems of the 2019 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

If you are on a hill and you accidently press both the brake an accelerator, the car will fall to neutral and free roll. In whatever direction is downhill. I have big feet. Happened again to me, I bumped the brake pedal (but not enough to apply the brakes to stop) when attempting to pull forwards slowly and my car beeped with the "both pedals detected pressed" alert. And then it free rolled backwards (because I was on an uphill). This will cause an accident because the car is not supposed to free roll backwards when in drive, this is a safety problem. It has been 4 years now, and no action has been taken to adress this software defect. A normal gas car does not do this. If you bump the brake in a normal gas car, it does not free roll in any direction. This is a Tesla software problem that Tesla needs to promptly fix ASAP!!!!!.

See all problems of the 2022 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

Wy wife and I drove our Tesla Model 3 from palo alto, CA to san francisco downtown, to meet friends. I was the driver, and my wife sat on the passenger seat. The weather was clear, and the pavement was dry. I did not engage auto-pilot features during the entire trip. The car condition was normal with no signs of error or warning. I made a right turn onto [xxx] from [xxx] shortly after I completed the turn, the car unexpectedly lost control. Without any prior warnings, it suddenly veered into the center divider, snapped a tree, dashed towards oncoming traffic on the other side of [xxx] , and finally stopped on [xxx] , labelled as location a on the attached drawing. Everything happened so quickly: I could not control the steering wheel, and I applied the brakes in vain. The vehicle seized control, no matter how hard I tried to stop it. I regained control of the vehicle at the intersection of [xxx] and [xxx] , and was able to park the car at location a. We were very fortunate and blessed that we did not hit people at the bus stop, that there were no cars in front of us, that the opposite traffic on [xxx] was stopped by a red light, and that the traffic was light on [xxx] without such luck, my wife and I, and probably others, would have been seriously injured, if not worse. Because [xxx] is one-way, we decided to move the vehicle to [xxx] , and parked at location b in the drawing. I called 911 and spoke to a female dispatcher. She asked us to remain at location b and wait for police officers to arrive. We waited there for almost 3 hours, but no police arrived. The dashboard display indicated that we had a flat tire(s). We called mobile tire services. After their inspection, most of our tires were alright, except the rim of the front-left wheel was badly bent, as you can see in the attached photo. The mobile tire service staff was skilled enough to carefully patch the damage and said it should be ok to drive back to palo alto. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 5.

As I was pulling into a parking spot with my new 2025 Model 3 Tesla, I removed my foot from the gas to slow the car - the appropriate way to do so which is called Tesla's one pedal driving. The car did slow but then suddenly surged forward at an alarming rate. I have 100% certainty that my foot was not on the gas at this moment. The car was stopped by a large concrete planter just in front of me, however, if that planter was not there, my car would have been through the glass of an office building or in a head on collision with another car in the lot. If there was a person walking into the building, they would have been dead. A witness approached me and mentioned that the car seemed to act erratically. I have been in touch with Tesla about the issue and am awaiting response.

This is the 3rd or 4th time I have observed sudden unexpected acceleration when at a full stop at a light while using fsd supervised (v13. 2. 7 just updated). It first happened 2 or 3 times on fsd v13. 2. 6 when mine was the lead car at stop lights. This time I was at a stop light but obviously not the lead car. The truck in front of me was blocking view of the traffic lights. Each time, I have hit the brakes immediately, so I don't know if the vehicle would stop on its own during these situations, but I have no issues with it safely braking at any other time. Other than this intermittent glitch, fsd has been flawless on the hw4 next generation computer, which may lead to driver complacency not expecting this. I am reporting for awareness & hopefully correction. I have mp4 video files of the incident, but I cannot upload them here.

The full self driving is very dangerous. I had several events that put me in danger. Like, going to the wrong lane. Going to the wrong way. Changing lanes that almost hit a car good thing I took over right away. It made the other car upset and honk at me.

I'm not quite sure what component was affected, some module of some sort got water in or near it that wasn't supposed to. It is available for inspection. Yes my safety and others was out at risk. Yes the problem was fixed by service center supposedly. Yes the car has been inspected by the manufacturer. There were no warnings. What happened was on 12/29 I was driving the car and out of absolutely nowhere a bunch of warnings came up including loss of abs, any and all safety features. And more importantly lost usage of brakes almost entirely when car came to a stop it was grinding and shakey. This problem all arises due to Teslas negligence when it came to installing a new windshield on the vehicle. As stated in messages below, they made a mistake while installing my windshield that caused this major issue to arise. They have offered nothing as a solution but saying that their error is supposedly fixed.

The car consistently has phantom braking. The speed will drop around 15 miles of speed immediately. It also will slow on rolling hills and random long turns on cruise control. Most recent date listed.

I was at a stoplight behind a Toyota tacoma. I must have stopped around 8 feet behind it. I was not using fsd and I was not one-pedal driving. My foot was on the brake. I must have been at a complete stop for approximately 10 seconds when my Model 3 suddenly accelerated full throttle on its own and rear ended the tacoma, directly hitting its trailer hitch, causing my car's driver-side airbags to deploy. When it happened, the light was still red and my foot was still on the brake. I never touched the accelerator. Luckily I was driving alone. After the inital contact, my car sort of bounced off of his hitch then slowly lurched forward before it stopped. After that, it was immobile, leaving me stuck in traffic until it was towed away.

See all problems of the 2018 Tesla Model 3 🔎.

I’m not exactly sure what’s wrong, the screen keeps failing on my car. It’s been taken to Tesla to service this issue 4 times. With the most expensive repair costing $2,200. Its poses a safety hazard because when the screen fails. You can’t see anything, speed, gear. You can’t adjust windshield wipers, seat or mirror positions.

Traveling with cruise control with the flow of traffic at 75mph and the setting dropped to 60mph. I thought fsd/beta programming was not allowed as regular vehicle settings so why does this continue?.

I reduced my set standard cruise control speed when traveling on a road curve and the speed drastically reduced by over 15mph lower than my setting on it's own. If I was traveling in a group then this would have created a dangerous situation for the following vehicles. This is another fsd/beta programming in regular cruise control. Why are you still allowing this to exist???.

Traveling with cruise control at 80mph with the flow of traffic and the speed setting dropped to 60mph. Why do you still allow this?.

When cruise control or self-driving systems are engaged, there have been numerous times when the automatic emergency braking system mistakenly slowed the car suddenly. At 70+ mph, this is incredibly dangerous. The aebs apparently sees shadows as dangers. Fortunately, there has never been an instance when another vehicle has been close behind.

Nhtsa vehicle safety complaint •vehicle information: •make: Tesla •model: Model 3 •year: 2022 •summary of incident: on November 28,2024, I experienced an incident involving my 2022 Tesla Model 3 while it was stationary just outside my garage. I accidentally pressed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake. The car surged forward and crashed into the back wall of my garage. Despite Tesla’s advertised safety features, such as collision avoidance assist and automatic emergency braking (aeb), none of these systems intervened or activated during the incident. I expected the safety systems to detect the garage wall and mitigate the collision, but they failed to respond. Additionally, Tesla’s obstacle-aware acceleration system did not seem to function as intended to limit acceleration in this scenario. •injuries or property damage: there were minor injuries to passenger, but the vehicle and the garage sustained significant damage. •steps taken post-incident: I have contacted Tesla to request an analysis of the vehicle’s event data logs to determine why the safety features did not activate. I am waiting for their response. •concern: I am filing this report because I believe this may indicate a potential safety issue with Tesla’s collision prevention systems in low-speed scenarios involving stationary obstacles. This raises concerns about the reliability of these features in real-world situations, particularly for drivers who may accidentally press the accelerator. •supporting information: if needed, I can provide photographs of the damage, repair estimates, and additional details.

Vehicle constantly phantom brakes while driving. I have reported 100+ incidents thru my Tesla "report bug" feature. It will read the speed limit sign on the off ramp and slow the vehicle down 20mps abruptly, it will see a car on an onramp and slam the brakes on thinking there is a collision coming. It is every single day using cruise control.

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while releasing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact stated that the vehicle stopped accelerating after 3-seconds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed, and it was determined that the tires needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,426.