NHTSA Tightens the Noose: Tesla Under Investigation for "Mad Max" Mode That Allows Driving Above Legal Speed Limit

NHTSA Tightens the Noose: Tesla Under Investigation for “Mad Max” Mode That Allows Driving Above Legal Speed Limit

Written by Carla Teles

Published on 24/10/2025 at 21:00

“O modo “Mad Max” da Tesla está sob investigação da NHTSA nos EUA. Entenda por que o sistema FSD, que opera acima dos limites de velocidade, preocupa a agência.”

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Reports Indicate That Tesla’s New Full Self-Driving System Feature Allows Vehicles to Operate Above Speed Limits, Generating Alert at NHTSA.

Tesla is once again under the spotlight of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the United States. As reported by InfoMoney, the federal agency confirmed on Friday that it is seeking information about a new driver assistance mode nicknamed “Mad Max.” The main concern is that this version, described as more aggressive than the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, would be allowing vehicles to operate above the established speed limits on highways.

This new inquiry adds to a series of ongoing investigations into Tesla‘s assistance technology. The NHTSA emphasized that, regardless of the activated system, “the human at the wheel is fully responsible for driving the vehicle and obeying all traffic safety laws”. The controversy arises at a delicate time, as Elon Musk’s automaker faces increasing scrutiny over the actual safety of its FSD systems.

What Is the “Mad Max” Mode and Why Is It Concerning?

The alert about the “Mad Max” mode gained traction after various reports from drivers on social media. According to these posts, Tesla vehicles that utilize the more aggressive version of Full Self-Driving have shown the ability to consistently operate above the speed limits permitted on roads. This feature raises serious questions about the system’s compliance with existing traffic laws.

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NHTSA Expands Investigations into Tesla’s FSD

The investigation into the “Mad Max” mode comes at a time when the NHTSA is already deeply analyzing Tesla’s FSD. Earlier this month, the agency opened a formal investigation into 2.9 million vehicles from the automaker equipped with the system. This primary investigation was prompted by dozens of documented reports of traffic safety violations and accidents occurring while FSD was active.

The data underlying this broader investigation is concerning. The NHTSA reported that it is examining 58 reports of serious issues involving traffic safety violations related to the use of FSD. This set of incidents includes 14 confirmed accidents resulting in 23 injuries. The agency highlighted that the FSD system “induced vehicle behavior that violated traffic safety laws.”

A History of Scrutiny and Collisions

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving, which is considerably more advanced than the automaker’s standard Autopilot system, has been under investigation by the NHTSA for at least a year. InfoMoney recalls that in October 2024, the agency had already opened an investigation into 2.4 million vehicles from Tesla with FSD. That previous investigation was triggered by four collisions that occurred under reduced visibility conditions on the road.

The U.S. regulatory agency detailed that in the broader investigation opened this month, it has six specific reports in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD activated, “approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the intersection against the red signal and subsequently became involved in a collision with other motor vehicles.” Despite the controversies, Tesla officially states that FSD “will drive you nearly anywhere with your active supervision, requiring minimal intervention,” but emphasizes that the technology does not make the car autonomous.

What do you think about this “Mad Max” functionality? Would you trust an assistance system that operates above speed limits? Share your opinion in the comments, we want to know what drivers really think about this new Tesla controversy.

NHTSA Tightens the Noose: Tesla Under Investigation for “Mad Max” Mode That Allows Driving Above Legal Speed Limit

Reports Indicate That Tesla’s New Full Self-Driving System Feature Allows Vehicles to Operate Above Speed Limits, Generating Alert at NHTSA.

What Is the “Mad Max” Mode and Why Is It Concerning?

NHTSA Expands Investigations into Tesla’s FSD

A History of Scrutiny and Collisions

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NHTSA Tightens the Noose: Tesla Under Investigation for “Mad Max” Mode That Allows Driving Above Legal Speed Limit

Reports Indicate That Tesla’s New Full Self-Driving System Feature Allows Vehicles to Operate Above Speed Limits, Generating Alert at NHTSA.

What Is the “Mad Max” Mode and Why Is It Concerning?

NHTSA Expands Investigations into Tesla’s FSD

A History of Scrutiny and Collisions

With billions in loans, China is rebuilding Nigeria’s railway network from scratch, abandoning the British colonial tracks that have turned to scrap and creating a corridor of over 1,300 km to take the load off the roads of Africa’s largest economy.

Forget petroleum-based asphalt: a Scottish company transforms 684,000 plastic bottles into one kilometer of road that is 60% more resistant and up to 10 times more durable, and the technology has already started replacing traditional asphalt in more than 30 countries.

China is building an artificial island in the middle of the sea, covering 20 km², to construct the largest offshore airport in the world, the Dalian Jinzhouwan. This $4.3 billion project is anchored on more than 3,000 pillars embedded in the rock beneath the ocean and is scheduled to open in 2035.

Austrian engineers have developed an inflatable concrete technology that transforms flat slabs into domes using only air pressure, eliminating scaffolding and temporary forms, and potentially changing the way bridges, tunnels, and curved roofs are constructed worldwide.

A robot named Walter does the work of five bricklayers per hour and can save the construction industry, where the average age of professionals is 46 years and almost no one wants to learn the trade anymore, in the United Kingdom.

Spain installs two giant pipelines 2.2 km off the coast to draw water from the Mediterranean and supply a megafacility capable of producing 200 million liters of drinking water per day.

Without wheels, iron, or machines, teams of up to 32 men would have dragged 2.3-ton blocks over wet sand up a ramp embedded in the pyramid itself, raising the structure in 20 to 27 years, according to a new computer model that reignites a millennia-old debate.

A 400-meter colossus powered by natural gas has just set sail from Shanghai to Europe, carrying over 24,000 containers. It is the world’s largest dual-fuel container ship and can cross the planet without refueling even once.

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A 400-meter colossus powered by natural gas has just set sail from Shanghai to Europe, carrying over 24,000 containers. It is the world’s largest dual-fuel container ship and can cross the planet without refueling even once.

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