Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Surveillance Video Of Bay Bridge Tunnel Pile-Up Caused By Tesla Self-Driving Feature Released—And Yikes

screenshot of pile-up in the Yerba Buena Island Tunnel of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge Complex
@ChudsOfTikTok/Twitter

The eight-car pile-up in San Francisco's Bay Bridge tunnel happened just hours after Elon Musk announced the self-driving feature on Twitter.

Traffic footage taken in the Yerba Buena Island Tunnel of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge Complex showed a previously reported eight-car pile-up after a Tesla Model S with the “Full Self-Driving” software malfunctioned and abruptly stopped in the fast lane.

KRON 4 reported the traffic accident happened on Thanksgiving Day. The crash resulted in nine people being injured–including a two-year-old who was hospitalized after suffering a bruise and an abrasion to the rear left side of his head.


The accident footage and photos were obtained by The Intercept via a California Public Records Act request.

It showed the first direct look at what happened from two different perspectives, confirming witness accounts the Tesla went into the far left lane at a high speed with the flow of traffic and then stopped for no reason.

The same day—just hours before the accident—Tesla CEO Elon Musk congratulated Tesla employees on a "major milestone” after announcing the vehicle's “Full Self-Driving” capability was made available in North America.

According to the Austin, Texas-based automotive and clean energy company, the Autodrive feature became available to over 285,000 Tesla owners in North America.

According to a report, the Tesla Model S driver behind the wheel during the crash told the California Highway Patrol the vehicle was in "Full Self-Driving" mode while traveling at 55 miles per hour.

The driver claimed the vehicle unexpectedly—of its own accord—switched into the far-left lane and slowed to 20 m.p.h., resulting in the pile-up.

A June 15, 2022 article from the Washington Post reported there had been 273 reported crashes involving Tesla vehicles using its Autopilot software over roughly the past year.

The numbers published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) at the time showed:

"Tesla vehicles made up nearly 70 percent of the 392 crashes involving advanced driver-assistance systems reported since last July, and a majority of the fatalities and serious injuries—some of which date back further than a year."

The Tesla Autopilot feature allows drivers to cede physical control of their electric vehicles, but they must be actively paying attention.

While activated, the automated vehicles are supposed to be able to maintain a safe distance, stay within lanes and make lane changes while sharing the highway with other vehicles.

The “Full Self-Driving” beta is part of an expanded feature of the Autopilot software.

It allows the vehicles to maneuver city and residential streets and stop at stop signs.

Tesla has been scrutinized by transportation safety experts who are concerned about the Autopilot technology's safety since its AI is being tested and trained along with other drivers on public roads.

Complaints of "unexpected brake activation" or what drivers call "Phantom Braking"–where Tesla vehicles independently slam on the brakes at high speeds–have increased in recent months.

The Washington Post reported roughly 100 such complaints have been filed within a three-month period.

Since 2016, the NHTSA investigated a total of 35 crashes where Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” or “Autopilot” systems were likely being used.

The combined total of deaths from those accidents was 19 people.

NHTSA’s administrator, Steven Cliff, expressed caution about the feature.

Cliff said:

“These technologies hold great promise to improve safety, but we need to understand how these vehicles are performing in real-world situations."

As more car companies are introducing electric motor vehicles to their lineup, Musk endeavored to make Tesla more "compelling" to stay above the tightening competition.

Last June, he proclaimed focusing on the "Full Self-Driving" technology was "essential," adding:

“It’s really the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money or worth basically zero.”

More from People

Sarah Jessica Parker
Marc Piasecki/WireImage

Sarah Jessica Parker Claps Back At Conservative Critics Who Want Her To 'Shut Up' About Politics And 'Act'

Nothing seems to get conservatives' goats quite like celebrities having political opinions—well, liberal and leftist celebrities, anyway.

They seem to love it when weird right-wing celebs like Kevin Sorbo get on the internet and say bizarre, usually counterfactual nonsense, or when JK Rowling does her darnedest to make her legacy not about Harry Potter but about her weird obsession with trans people.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ann Coulter
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Ann Coulter Faces Fierce Backlash After Saying 'We Didn't Kill Enough Indians' In Deleted Post

Far-right provocateur Ann Coulter is facing fierce criticism after she made a genocidal remark in a now-deleted post on X in response to University of Minnesota professor and Navajo Nation member Melanie Yazzie's speech about colonization.

Yazzie, in a speech at last year's annual Socialism Conference, said "decolonization is the only thing that is going to save us as a species" during a panel hosted by Red Nation, a Native American nonprofit that advocates for Palestinian and Native American rights. She also said that the United States is the "greatest predator empire that has ever existed" and said it should be dismantled.

Keep ReadingShow less
James Gunn
Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage

James Gunn Bluntly Fires Back At 'Jerks' Who Criticize Superman's Pro-Immigrant Themes

Superman director James Gunn issued a response to the "jerks" who criticize the political themes inherent to the superhero's story, expressing his hope that seeing the movie will "make people a little nicer."

Speaking with The Times of London, Gunn stressed that the story of Superman is more relevant than ever considering the ongoing political turmoil in the United States largely centered around the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

Keep ReadingShow less

Things People Do In Relationships That Seem Sweet But Are Actually Toxic

Content Warning: Controlling and Toxic Relationship Behaviors

We've all either been involved in or witnessed a relationship where we saw something that we thought was cute or sweet at first, but we eventually found the behavior to be troubling or "too much."

Keep ReadingShow less
A piggy bank surrounded by loose change.
coin bank

'Poor Person Habits' People Won't Give Up No Matter How Rich They Get

When money is tight, we look for every possible way to avoid spending it.

As much as we might find ourselves missing out on some of the nicer things life has to offer, we find ourselves contented by the fact that we will always have enough money in our bank accounts to pay our bills on time.

Keep ReadingShow less