Tesla Driver Issues Warning After His Cybertruck Totals Itself on "Full Self-Driving" Mode
The owner of a Tesla Cybertruck had a terrifying crash while using the carmaker's infamous "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) feature.
In a now-viral thread on X-formerly-Twitter, Florida-based owner Jonathan Challinger "crashed into a curb and then a light post" after failing to "merge out of a lane that was ending." His vehicle "made no attempt to slow down or turn until it had already hit the curb."
Challinger used the opportunity to issue a warning
"Big fail on my part, obviously," he tweeted. "Don't make the same mistake I did. Pay attention. It can happen."
"It is easy to get complacent now — don't," he added.
Puzzlingly, Challinger also took the opportunity to praise Tesla for "engineering the best passive safety in the world."
For years now, regulators have been investigating Tesla's driver assistance software, finding last year that owners like Challinger are often lulled into a false sense of security, in large part due to Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk's woefully misleading marketing.
Musk has promised that autonomous driving will be realized "next year" every single year for over a decade now.
But reality has struggled to catch up. Tesla currently still maintains that its FSD software requires drivers to be engaged and ready to take over at all times.
In practice, drivers like Challinger often zone out. Over the years, FSD and its overarching Autopilot suite have been linked to hundreds of crashes and dozens of deaths and have been implicated in countless lawsuits.
The timing of Challinger's easily avoided collision is especially noteworthy, considering Musk has promised that an "unsupervised" version of FSD will be made available later this year.
Challinger's comments also highlight a bizarre and difficult-to-reconcile loyalty to Tesla's brand and its mercurial CEO.
"I do have the dashcam footage," he wrote in his tweet. " 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," he added.
Challinger's controversial account of the collision had other netizens shaking their heads.
"It's completely wild to me that the car's own built-in paid software totals an $80k vehicle and the owner's response is to say "thank you Tesla, the passive safety is so good," one Reddit user wrote in response. "Feels like satire, and yet here we are..."
"I don't understand how on current versions of FSD a person is able to look away from the road long enough to drive straight into a pole," another user wrote. "I can barely shoulder check a lane change without the eye tracking nagging at me. And it's at night too so it's not like they had sunglasses on."
The latest incident highlights some glaring shortcomings of the tech — and a baffling level of trust on the part of Tesla drivers.
More on FSD: Elon Musk Finally Admits That Teslas Don't Have What It Takes for Full Self-Driving
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Air Force spends millions on relaxation cubes that may prove worth it
At dozens of bases across the Air Force, troops are undertaking tried-and-true relaxation techniques — biofeedback, meditation — in shiny mirrored cubes that can project light patterns and even galaxies. The experience, as one researcher put it, is more like a 'Disney ride' than a studio or clinical office. This is Lumena Mindgym, a flashy new curriculum-based therapeutic tool that's taking the Air Force by storm. More than two dozens Mindgyms have been installed at base fitness centers and support facilities for about $100,000 apiece; Mindgym just marked its first installations outside the continental United States, in Kuwait and Turkey, earlier this year. As the number of Mindgym advocates across the Air Force grows, other services are also entering talks to purchase the technology. It's a lot of flash and glitz to deliver relaxation to stressed-out service members. But the number of passionate advocates for Mindgym in the military is growing, and some argue the attention it's getting from troops who might otherwise avoid meditation and de-stressing techniques might make it worth every penny. The technology itself was created by an entrepreneur with a finance background, rather than a scientist; company executives make clear they are not the clinical experts. 'We don't have anybody in-house that's a neuroscientist or Ph.D.,' Brandon Murphy, head of growth for Lumena, told Military Times in an interview, adding that they did maintain an advisory board of doctors and researchers. Nor was Mindgym designed with the military specifically in mind. Founders were shopping the technology at a Colorado-based sporting tradeshow in 2019, Murphy said, when they encountered Adam Strang, Biotechnology Product Line Lead at the Air Force Research Laboratory. Strang was intrigued by the tech and connected the team with veteran Air Force pilot and human performance expert Jannell MacAulay, who'd become a vocal advocate for Mindgym and help develop the curriculum to be used by airmen. 'It's like a flight simulator for your mind,' MacAulay posted on Facebook in April during a visit to one of the Air Force's facilities. By 2022, a seed fund grant had enabled the installation of the first Mindgym at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, complete with a clinically validated curriculum and wearable components that measured brain activity and heart rate. The first users were explosive ordnance disposal technicians from Hill's 775th Civil Engineering Squadron. And that initial group of 55 airmen gave Mindgym its best evidence for effectiveness. Over 219 20-minute training sessions, according to Lumena Labs, the group self-reported an average 30% improvement in mood. The biodata receptors documented a 16.2% reduction in stress indicators, while 61% of users said their stress management capabilities improved. Sleep quality also improved for 15% of users. 'Many in the group reported stronger focus during the Weighted Airmen Performance Systems (WAPS) testing — the program that determines promotions for Staff Sergeant (E-5) and Technical Sergeant (E-6),' Lumena stated in study analysis. 'They also cited decreased incidents of road rage and across-the-board improvements in their marital relations, gym workouts, and even their golf scores.' While follow-up studies have not been conducted, the feedback appears to demonstrate how even a small amount of therapeutic attention to the brain and the mental resilience of service members under stress can make a significant difference. Strang, at the Air Force Research Lab, told Military Times in an interview that Mindgym compared favorably to the sensory deprivation float tanks popular for promoting relaxation and stress reduction. 'Float tanks are messy and maintenance is challenging,' Strang said, adding that it was never clear to him if the atmosphere of the tank or the opportunity to take a nap in it made the most difference to his mental state. 'I hopped into Mindgym, and it didn't feel like a waterless float tank to me at all,' he said. 'It felt like a psychedelic experience.' AFRL has plans to study the efficacy of Mindgym in comparison with other mindfulness and relaxation technologies, though those are predicated on future funding awards. Strang emphasized that Mindgym is not a panacea for mental health or resilience but said boosting cognition and reducing stress, particularly in a 'next frontier' warfare environment where troops are joining a real fight from their desks as drone pilots or Space Force satellite operators, was worth the dedicated investment. 'They're $100,000 cubes, I think, the last time I checked,' Strang said. 'Let's say they facilitate relaxation and recovery across 100 people by 10%; what's the operational impact of that? I don't know. But what happens if one person who is flying an F-35 sits in that cockpit and, because of these interventions, prevents a mishap of a $60 million aircraft? Would that be worth it? Probably.' As the Air Force continues to install Mindgyms, the company has recently had more conversations with Navy officials, even demonstrating the Mindgym at the Sea Air Space naval trade show earlier this year. Murphy said he saw value for the technology particularly in the submarine community, where stress and operational tempo were high. There are now 32 different sessions a service member can select in Mindgym; a grant last year enabled the recent development and deployment of a stroboscopic light therapy protocol that is supposed to promote higher theta brain wave state, enabling reduced stress in high-intensity situations. 'I'd honestly love to have [a Mindgym] on every military base on the globe,' Murphy said, 'so that there's not a service member that doesn't have access to something like this.'
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why this analyst is 'skeptical' about Tesla's robotaxi plans
Tesla (TSLA) stock is in focus as investors wait for the company's robotaxi event on Thursday. The autonomous taxi launch comes just after CEO Elon Musk and US President Trump's public fallout. Guggenheim Securities director of automotive equity research, Ron Jewsikow, a longtime Tesla bear, joins Morning Brief with Brad Smith and Madison Mills to discuss what to expect from the robotaxi rollout. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. Well, President Trump told NBC News this weekend that he had no desire to repair his relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk after the two exchanged heated blows on social media last week. Two Wall Street firms downgraded shares of the EV maker Monday after the stock fell more than 14% in the past week. Our next guest is a long-time Tesla bear with a sell rating and a $170 price target on the stock, Ron Josuko, Guggenheim Securities Automotive Equity Research director, joins us now. Ron, good to see you here with us this morning. So, I mean, just take us into, first, your thinking as the spat was playing out via social media and and Twitter fingers, essentially, were prevailing. But how much of this is an overhang to Tesla as an operation and as a manufacturer of vehicles? Yeah, it's a good question and and thanks for having me. I would say our basis for the stock has had very little to do with politics since, since Trump was elected, or before Trump was elected. But the the stock has clearly been sensitive to political headlines. The stock rallied almost 100% post election on this view that Trump would help deregulate autonomous vehicles and kind of clear a path for Tesla's robo taxi plans. We always thought that was a bit dubious. I think that states and local municipalities were always going to have a role to play in autonomous regulation. They do today and they will in the future. But there was clearly a bid in the stock on Tesla being tethered to to Trump. And we saw a lot of that unwind last week. For us, it doesn't change anything. We have not, we have not ascribed any value to any kind of political outcomes here, but it is, it is certainly creating a lot of noise in the stock. So what are those fundamental drivers, Ron, that you would want investors to perhaps refocus on to have good investor hygiene with regards to this name? Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, for us, we focus quite a bit on the vehicle business, the energy business and the potential robo taxi business. I think there's no denying that the robo taxi opportunity is a large opportunity. We just think it's much further into the future than, I think, the stock implies. Um, and in the meantime, the energy business is a nice growth driver, but it's nowhere near large enough to justify the current valuation and the auto business is deteriorating to the point where I I'm not sure it's free cash flow positive this year. Um, so and data through May looks, looks increasingly weak. There's been no acceleration on the new Model Y. So I think the fundamental drivers of the business, as it sits today, continues to skew negative. And then the robo taxi launch, we'll see how it goes. But I think the major question for us is when it goes from the planned 10 cars in Austin this month to something much larger and more generalized when this can actually go to multiple states. I know Tesla has pretty ambitious targets. I would say we're generally skeptical. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tesla's robotaxi rollout: What to expect
Tesla (TSLA) is set to launch robotaxis in Austin, Texas this week. Yahoo Finance Senior Auto Reporter Pras Subramanian breaks down what investors can expect. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. Tesla planning to roll out its hotly anticipated robo taxi this week. Here with what you need to know. We've got our senior auto reporter Pros Subramanian. Pros, what can people expect? Well, you know, it's going to be this is a huge week for the company, right? This is the finally that they're beginning their unsupervised testing of robo taxis, meaning there's going to be no driver sitting in the in the driver's seat. Just be totally empty car. Uh, about 10 or 20 cars are still to start off within in Austin, according to Musk and the company. Um, you'll likely use a Tesla app to summon these vehicles as they've they've shown before with different mock-ups. Um, they perhaps model wise or first, maybe some Model 3s. We'll see what vehicles they end up using. Um, but interestingly enough, the safety, there'll be human tele operators that will be kind of monitoring things and will have to jump in in case a car is stuck somewhere or something happens to that effect where they can actually have a solution to a problem relatively quickly. So this is a big deal for them. We've seen a lot of the bullish analysts talk about this is the next step for unlocking the key trillion dollars in value with autonomous and physical AI and things like that. So, uh, yeah, big week for them, but you know, a lot going on in Tesla world with Musk and Trump and all that stuff. That's also happening in the background. So I think a lot of investors want to focus on this and hopefully that goes well. But the 12th is the date, the tentative date, but you never know with Tesla, you never know if they might push that back. So we'll see. Yeah, talk to me about the sort of totality of catalysts impacting Tesla investors right now. Like can this event outweigh any of those negative headlines about the feud between Musk and and the president? Yeah, I think if if Tesla is able to sort of cleave itself from Musk and and show that we are this we are not just a car maker, we are also a technology provider and we're going to advance in space. And you know, we were talking earlier about about Waymo, they're they're by far away the leaders in space right now, like 230,000 trips a week, autonomous vehicles already doing their thing in Austin and LA and places like that. So, you know, they have a lot of catch up a lot of catching up to do. But if they can do that, maybe they can actually just change the story a little bit and maybe Musk will be more focused on that too. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
