Tesla FSD had a bad week, including getting hit by a train and hitting a fake child
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Just as Tesla and Elon Musk prepare to roll out the steering wheel-free, autonomous Robotaxi in Austin, the brand hit a couple of snags in the self-driving space. For starters, a train struck a Tesla Model 3 with full self-driving (FSD) after it stopped on the tracks. If that wasn’t enough, a test involving a Model Y and a stopped, unloading school bus had disastrous results.
Tesla FSD made headlines when a self-driving Model 3 got stuck on the tracks and was hit by a train
When we say “hit by a train,” this is about the tamest way possible to have a crash on the tracks. According to first responders in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, a driver claimed their Tesla Model 3 was using FSD when it came to a stop on train tracks. This wasn’t a simple stop, though; the Model 3 beached itself on the tracks, hopeless to get free.
Fortunately, the driver was able to get free of the stationary Model 3 before a passing train struck it. Catastrophic damage? Not so much. The train ripped the mirror off the gray Tesla EV. Pretty lucky, all things considered. Authorities in the area stopped traffic and used a crane to extract the Tesla after the FSD folly.
A test by an outspoken organization with an anti-Tesla message simulated a self-driving Model Y hitting a child. 8 out of 8 times.
In addition to the train debacle, outspoken Tesla critics The Dawn Project put together a test to prove that the brand’s full self-driving functions aren’t up to the task of avoiding real-world obstacles– perhaps even with a deadly cost.
In the video test, a Tesla Model Y using FSD fails to stop for a school bus. Now, in the United States, drivers are required to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights or a deployed stop sign. It’s illegal to pass the stationary bus on either side of the road. For good reason, too; a stopped bus with red flashing lights is typically loading or unloading children and passengers, some of whom may try to cross the street after exiting the bus.
After the Model Y failed to identify the stopped bus, it struck a crash dummy simulating the path of a child attempting to cross the street. Worse yet, the red Tesla SUV failed to stop for the bus and struck the child eight times. Eight out of eight. Not a great look. But critics of the critics have raised questions about the validity of the test and the organization itself.
The Dawn Project isn’t shy about its anti-Tesla sentiments. “Anyone who buys a Tesla from Elon Musk is an enabler for his reckless behavior, including his self-driving experiments that have resulted in over 1,000 crashes and at least 33 tragic deaths,” The Dawn Project states on its website.
