Federal Safety Investigation Targets Tesla's New Reckless Driving Mode

The promises made by Elon Musk about cars driving themselves have once again run into the cold, hard reality of road safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the U.S. government’s top road safety regulator, has opened a formal investigation into Tesla's latest and most aggressive software setting for its driver-assistance system: the so-called "Mad Max" mode.

When Software Encourages Speeding and Chaos

Tesla drivers, many of whom act as beta testers for the controversial FSD software, began sharing videos of the new "Mad Max" mode. Unlike older, more cautious versions of FSD, this mode appears designed to mimic highly aggressive, even reckless, driving. The feature gets its name from the post-apocalyptic film series, a theme critics say is disturbingly fitting for a system meant to ensure safety. The software's capabilities have raised serious alarms with regulators. 

Drivers on social media have reported the software operating well above posted limits. As one YouTuber noted in a shocking commentary, "We are going 75 in a 50, I feel like we are racing down the street right now." Other footage shows vehicles in "Mad Max" mode blatantly rolling through stop signs and accelerating rapidly to weave through traffic.

Tesla even appeared to endorse the aggressive behavior, reposting a social media description that praised the "Mad Max" mode for "accelerating and weaving through traffic at an incredible pace... If you are running late, this is the mode for you." Critics argue that promoting a mode that drives "like a sports car" when late directly conflicts with public safety.

NHTSA Reviewing Dozens of Serious Crashes

The new inquiry into the "Mad Max" mode is not an isolated incident; it forms part of a much larger federal investigation focused on the overall safety of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. The NHTSA is currently scrutinizing nearly 2.9 million Tesla vehicles, which includes essentially every model equipped with FSD, due to mounting reports of traffic-safety violations and related crashes. 

The agency’s preliminary evaluation has already uncovered alarming statistics and incidents, citing that regulators are reviewing 58 specific reports of FSD-related issues involving traffic safety violations, which includes 14 crashes and a total of 23 injuries. Even more troubling, NHTSA reported six instances where a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD engaged, "approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the intersection against the red light and was subsequently involved in a crash with other motor vehicles." 

The evidence directly supports the agency’s central finding: the FSD system has undeniably “induced vehicle behavior that violated traffic safety laws.” Unlike competitors who use geofencing (limiting self-driving to specific zones) and strict driver monitoring, some analysts have called Tesla an "industry outlier" for combining an overly permissive system with weak driver-engagement checks.