2020 Tesla Model 3 FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE

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)

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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)

At 11:47 AM Pacific time on December 23, 2023 my Tesla model three auto pilot system failed after a recent update mandated by the NHTSA. Ever since the update, the vehicle, cruise control and auto pilot systems no longer function properly, and while I was in, cruise control and auto pilot traffic stopped ahead and the auto pilot system disengaged while I was waiting while it was slowing down, which has never happened in four years of ownership and over 60,000 miles of driving. The new recall software update has made the vehicle unsafe and it should be retracted and corrected. What once was a safe feature is now unsafe. Please investigate this with Tesla to prevent possible injury or death resulting from this programming failure.

During a month-long road trip in the US, I experienced frequent "phantom braking" incidents while using adaptive cruise control. In some cases, Autosteer was also active. By "phantom braking" I refer to sudden hard braking by the car itself in clear daylight conditions on interstate highways with no vehicles visible ahead of me for at least 1/2 mile. By "frequent" I mean that this behavior occurred multiple times per hour over multiple days. I decided to cease using cruise control for the remainder of the trip after the following episode occurred. With cruise control active on a four lane interstate, I was changing lanes to the right to allow a pickup truck to pass me on the left. I had just passed a semitrailer, who was in the right lane. I could see him in my rear-view mirror as I began the lane change. The road was empty and visible for at least a mile ahead on a sunny morning. We were all traveling about 75 mph in a 70 mph zone. While straddling the lanes, the car suddenly slammed on its brakes, requiring both vehicles behind me to take evasive action. I over-rode the car’s action by pressing the accelerator pedal swiftly and firmly. No accident occurred. I stopped using cruise control entirely for several months, and I have only rarely used it since then, and only when the road behind me is empty. In those few recent trials, I have not experienced any phantom braking. Finally, I speculate that the braking may have been triggered by "mirages" of what look like puddles on the road. We humans are familiar with this phenomenon, but the camera AI may have interpreted those as obstacles.

At lease several times in the past 3 months, when using AUTOPILOT and when passing semi-trucks on my right my Model 3 has automatically given a very loud, what I believe to be either a Forward Collision Warning or a Lane Departure Warning, then braked and seemingly veered to the left! This is scary beyond belief and has only happened when AUTOPILOT is engaged and large semi-trucks are to my right. I thought you should know about this issue. Thank you,

April 10 & 11. Drive from Minneapolis to Washington D.C. Several phantom braking incidents—two severe. If someone would have been behind me on the Ohio Turnpike, there would have been a major crash. This issue first cropped up on my vehicle in late fall of 2020. WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FORCE TESLA (really MUSK) to install radar sensors or LiDAR? Is there a class action lawsuit that has been started? I have a car I cannot trust to use cruise control. I do not use, or ever want, lane assist or FSD. I just want a reliable and SAFE cruise control system. I get nowhere with Tesla on this. At this point, Tesla should buy back my car—and likely thousands of others or retrofit. I know that others have been injured and no doubt someone is going to get killed…something must be done…this is major SAFETY issue. Thanks.

Phantom breaking occurred twice while driving east on highway sr 152. Our car was traveling straight with no cars in front of us. I was using cruise control set at the speed limit when the car suddenly slammed on the brakes, the car slowed from 65 mph to 20 mph in a few seconds. This happened twice in a matter of 10 minutes. I no longer use cruise control. Apparently there is no fix. I have two relatives that have experienced same problem with their Teslas. I will suggest that they report to NHTSA.

On September 9, 2023, we were driving from Winter Park, CO to Omaha, NE. Three or four hours into our trip, we experienced what is described on the internet as "phantom breaking" four or five times in an hour. We were in a remote area on I-80 with no cars ahead of us or behind us and no debris in the road. We have occasionally experienced this hard automatic breaking for no obvious reason before in our almost four years of driving this Tesla, but we never thought much of it. This time since it happened so many times in such a short amount of time, we researched online if there was anything we could do. With that information we turned off the "Automatic Emergency Breaking", which seemed to do the trick. When we contacted the Tesla Service Center in Council Bluffs, IA for an appointment to see if they could fix the problem, they asked for more information. They said the following: "We performed a remote diagnosis on the Autopilot System in the vehicle and its affiliated hardware and all checks came back in good standing with no faults." They then suggested I read the Owners manual for factors that may cause the vehicle to brake when not required or expected. I read it and told them none of those conditions were present. They said that was all they could do and suggested if it happens again I should file a "bug report" (which was a new concept to me!). The phantom breaking happened, but Tesla either doesn't seem to believe me or does not have the ability to properly diagnose or fix the problem. I will try to remember to turn off the Automatic Emergency Breaking, but that raises other safety concerns . . . .

I have had multiple incidents of sudden speed reduction on major hi ways. (us 287 and I 25). Usually these incidents occur when I am traveling north (increasing elevation and later in the day), but that is not always the case. The events appear to be totally random, but result in a speed reduction of 70mph to 40mph rapidly enough that loose items (including pets) fly. on occasion I have had to be very quick to accelerate to avoid being run over by a tailgater. I scheduled a service appointment, but was discouraged from doing so by Tesla Service people who said “the car is still learning”. The fault has not improved. If anything it happens more frequently. At this point, I would say we travel “on edge”.

The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that on three occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact continued driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.

When using “Auto Pilot” (Teslas adaptive cruise control) the vehicle experiences violent phantom braking. The system slams on the brakes in some cases going from 65 to 20 MPH almost instantly. This happens on a fairly regular basis and is a massive safety issue. We have nearly been rear ended on several occasions.

I was driving on a highway using the adaptive cruise control. Several times the car braked for no reason at all. There were no cars in front of us, it was phantom breaking for no apparent reason. It was a long road trip of 12 hours over 2 days and I stopped using cruise control when anyone is behind me out of fear of causing an accident. The issue happened at least 15 times over the 2 days. It is a safety issue in my opinion, as other cars following you may rear end you when the car brakes hard for no reason. I've owned the car for a while, and it seems to have gotten much worse than it was before. There are no warnings before it does the phantom breaking. I have not had it inspected by anyone else. I believe it is a software issue that needs to be fixed by Tesla, as there are no error messages, and all my cameras appear to be functional.

Since recent software update The adaptive cruise control now randomly applies the brakes while driving on a straight road with no obstacles or vehicles in front. Today driving i80 through navada This happen about 5 times within a few minutes of engaging cruise control. This is a new issue I’d not seen until now. I’d had maybe 2 or 3 incidences of phantom Braking over the last couple of years. Today I had it happen multiple times through the day.

Since recently updating the software I now get a lot of phantom braking when employing adaptive cruise control. This hardly happened in the past. Recently it’s happening every time I engage cruise control Today we drove from San Francisco to Utah on the i80 The car randomly braked 5 times Each time the road was flat, straight with no traffic in front or obstacles or road cones. After engaging cruise control the car would randomly brake aggressively with a few minutes. I would turn off cruise control then try again a few minutes later. The same throng would happen Speeds ranged from 65-75 mph

Emergency braking is activated on highway when no obstacle is visible on clear sunny days. This has occurred over the last year but has become more frequent over time.

The ADAS system for the car includes automatic steering, which only works at the speed limit detected or less. The car incorrectly sets the speed limit in many instances as much as 30 mph under the limit. It isn’t safe to drive the car at such a different speed than the rest of traffic. Tesla claims it relies on map data and can read speed limit signs. Most rural roads have no posted limit, so they default to 55 mph. Even in the presence of a posted speed limit, the car defaults to their bad map data within seconds of passing such a sign. Tesla has no mechanism for reporting this bad data to get it corrected. This has been ongoing for more than a year.