Tesla Full Self-Driving fails at train crossings, drivers warn

In interviews, Tesla drivers who use FSD said they experienced problems with the technology at rail crossings.

Italo Frigoli was trying out the Full Self-Driving software of his Tesla one evening in June when he came upon a railroad crossing. The arms were descending and lights were flashing as a train barreled toward the intersection.

For most human drivers, the gate arms and lights are clear signals to stop, but for Frigoli’s Tesla, which was driving in a semiautonomous mode, the potentially deadly situation didn’t seem to register.

“It felt like it was going to run through the arms,” he said. “So obviously I just slammed on the brakes.” He stopped just a few feet from the crossing near his home in North Texas, barely avoiding disaster.

Video from the car’s cameras, reviewed by NBC News, appears to support his account. And this month, when NBC News accompanied him to the same railroad crossing, his Tesla software had the same problem. While cameras were rolling, his Tesla’s software failed to detect an oncoming train, forcing Frigoli to manually brake.

Videos appear to show Teslas failing to stop at railroad crossings in 'self-driving' mode01:15Frigoli avoided the potential crashes, but his experiences highlight a recurring complaint among some Tesla drivers about the company’s self-driving technology: The software sometimes mishandles railroad crossings, including by failing to stop for them.