{"id":73090,"date":"2025-10-30T04:39:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T02:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/?p=73090"},"modified":"2025-10-30T04:39:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T02:39:56","slug":"teslas-mad-max-mode-faces-federal-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/newswire\/artificial-intelligence\/73090\/teslas-mad-max-mode-faces-federal-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla&#8217;s &#8220;Mad Max&#8221; Mode Faces Federal Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<details class=\"wp-block-details ticss-586932b6 is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>\u25bc Summary<\/summary>\n<p class=\"ticss-0c48f427 has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211; Tesla recently introduced two new driving modes called &#8220;Sloth&#8221; and &#8220;Mad Max&#8221; for its full self-driving feature via a firmware update.<br>&#8211; The &#8220;Sloth&#8221; mode is designed for relaxed driving with gentle acceleration and lane-keeping, while &#8220;Mad Max&#8221; aggressively speeds and swerves through traffic.<br>&#8211; The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating reports of FSD Teslas exhibiting this aggressive driving behavior.<br>&#8211; &#8220;Mad Max&#8221; mode was previously beta-tested in 2018 but was not released due to public outcry, making this a reintroduction of the feature.<br>&#8211; Tesla is promoting &#8220;Mad Max&#8221; as a sports car-like mode for faster travel despite recently losing a costly wrongful death lawsuit.<br><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"color:#f34c3e\" class=\"has-inline-color\">F<\/mark>ederal regulators have launched a formal inquiry into <a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/entity\/tesla\/\" class=\"acp-entity-link\" data-entity-id=\"531\" data-entity-category=\"Organization\" title=\"Learn more about Tesla\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tesla<\/a>&#8217;s newly released &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/entity\/mad-max\/\" class=\"acp-entity-link\" data-entity-id=\"142179\" data-entity-category=\"product\" title=\"Learn more about Mad Max\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mad Max<\/a>&#8221; driving mode, an aggressive automated driving setting designed to maneuver through traffic at high speeds. This investigation follows numerous public reports of <strong>Tesla vehicles operating in Full Self-Driving (<a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/entity\/fsd\/\" class=\"acp-entity-link\" data-entity-id=\"98435\" data-entity-category=\"product\" title=\"Learn more about FSD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FSD<\/a>) mode executing rapid lane changes and sudden acceleration<\/strong>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/newswire\/business\/228364\/nhtsa-probes-1-2-million-teslas-over-suspension-failures\/\" class=\"acp-article-link\" data-article-id=\"228364\" title=\"NHTSA probes 1.2 million Teslas over suspension failures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration<\/a> is now scrutinizing the safety implications of this assertive <a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/trending-news\/236182\/tesla-fsd-v14-swerved-toward-ditch-driver-reports\/\" class=\"acp-article-link\" data-article-id=\"236182\" title=\"Tesla FSD v14 swerved toward ditch, driver reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">autonomous driving<\/a> feature.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While presented as a fresh addition in the latest firmware update, the underlying technology for this assertive driving behavior is not without precedent. Tesla previously trialed a comparable system during a 2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/entity\/autopilot\/\" class=\"acp-entity-link\" data-entity-id=\"1762\" data-entity-category=\"Technology\" title=\"Learn more about Autopilot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Autopilot<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/topic\/beta-testing\/\" class=\"acp-topic-link\" data-topic-id=\"15056\" title=\"Explore: beta testing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">beta test<\/a>. That earlier version was ultimately shelved from public release following significant public concern and criticism over its driving characteristics.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company&#8217;s current decision to deploy this technology comes during a challenging period, shortly after facing a substantial federal <a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/newswire\/business\/129520\/tesla-faces-new-wrongful-death-suit-over-door-handles\/\" class=\"acp-article-link\" data-article-id=\"129520\" title=\"Tesla Faces New Wrongful Death Suit Over Door Handles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrongful death<\/a> lawsuit settlement. Tesla&#8217;s official description promotes the mode&#8217;s capability to navigate congested roads &#8220;at an incredible pace, all while remaining remarkably smooth.&#8221; Marketing materials suggest the system &#8220;handles your vehicle like a high-performance <a href=\"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/topic\/sports-car\/\" class=\"acp-topic-link\" data-topic-id=\"78650\" title=\"Explore: sports car\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sports car<\/a>,&#8221; explicitly positioning it as the ideal choice for drivers behind schedule. This assertive rollout demonstrates a notable shift in the manufacturer&#8217;s approach to deploying controversial driving technologies.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/cars\/2025\/10\/feds-probe-tesla-about-its-mad-max-mode\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ars Technica<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal regulators are investigating Tesla&#8217;s &#8220;Mad Max&#8221; driving mode due to safety concerns after reports of rapid lane changes and sudden acceleration in Full Self-Driving mode. The technology behind this aggressive driving behavior was previously tested in 2018 but was shelved after public criti&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3247,3285,3327,3254],"tags":[106861,75017,106860,25539,91141],"entities":[935,63149,106864,106862,3402,106863,831],"class_list":["post-73090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence","category-automotive","category-newswire","category-technology","tag-aggressive-driving-mode","tag-autonomous-driving-safety","tag-mad-max-mode","tag-nhtsa-investigation","tag-tesla-fsd","entity-autopilot","entity-fsd","entity-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars","entity-mad-max","entity-national-highway-traffic-safety-administration","entity-sloth","entity-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73090"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitrendz.blog\/z\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entities?post=73090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}