Tesla Cybertruck runs into stationary pole at high speed while in “autonomous” FSD mode
If you needed further proof that Tesla is utterly incapable of creating a safe autonomous robotaxi system, here it is. On February 8th, 2025, just north of Reno, Nevada, a Tesla on FSD v13.2.4 was driving at 30-45mph, right in front of an elementary school.
Because the Tesla FSD system is limited to just using cheap cameras as sensors instead of a LiDAR system, it did not detect the multiple large arrows indicating that it was not in a travel lane. The FSD system then proceeded to not detect, due to lack of adequate sensors, a curb and a very, very large traffic signal pole, and drove into them at full speed. The driver of course did not have time to disengage the FSD system and avoid the pole.
Soooooo my @Tesla @cybertruck crashed into a curb and then a light post on v13.2.4.
— Jonathan Challinger (@MrChallinger) February 9, 2025
Thank you @Tesla for engineering the best passive safety in the world. I walked away without a scratch.
It failed to merge out of a lane that was ending (there was no one on my left) and made… pic.twitter.com/vpT4AGz8jZ
[Editors note: the author, or perhaps Elon Musk, deleted the above tweet. Interestingly, it was deleted right when the Reuters article Cybertruck crash raises alarm bells about Tesla’s self-driving software came out, which also made the point that FSD is inherently flawed. So here is a screenshot of the tweet:]
The full text of the tweet:
Soooooo my @Tesla @cybertruck crashed into a curb and then a light post on v13.2.4. Thank you
@Tesla for engineering the best passive safety in the world. I walked away without a scratch. It failed to merge out of a lane that was ending (there was no one on my left) and made no attempt to slow down or turn until it had already hit the curb. Big fail on my part, obviously. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Pay attention. It can happen. I follow Tesla and FSD pretty closely and haven’t heard of any accident on V13 at all before this happened. It is easy to get complacent now – don’t.
@Tesla_AI how do I make sure you have the data you need from this incident? Service center etc has been less than responsive on this. I do have the dashcam footage. I want to get it out there as a PSA that it can happen, even on v13, but I’m hesitant because I don’t want the attention and I don’t want to give the bears/haters any material. Spread my message and help save others from the same fate or far worse.
@elonmusk @wmorrill3 @aelluswamy @Tesla_AI @AIDRIVR @chazman @WholeMarsBlog @DirtyTesLa @BeardedTesla @TesLatino
Jonathan Challinger https://twitter.com/MrChallinger/status/1888546351572726230
And there were not just one, but two street lamps at the pole. Clearly there were no lighting issues. Electronic cameras alone can miss very large stationary objects, as shown by Tesla’s repeatedly crashing into semi-trucks and emergency vehicles.
At least the Cybertruck wasn’t able to continue into the bike lane that starts just after the elementary school. Tesla doesn’t believe in good mapping data as being necessary for autonomous driving, unlike all other companies, the truck would have sure continued down the bike lane indefinitely.
It should also be noted that while the traffic signal island looks new, it is at least 15 years old according to Google StreetView.
In case you want to see exactly (39.623880,-119.882032) where this happened:
39.623880,-119.882032
— Jonathan Challinger (@MrChallinger) February 9, 2025
[Editors note: the author, or perhaps Elon Musk, deleted this tweet.]
