The Intercept reporter Ken Klippenstein on Twitter
- Surveillance video shows a Tesla stopping in a San Francisco tunnel and the resulting eight-car pileup.
- The Intercept published the footage from November 24 on Tuesday.
- The Tesla driver said at the time of the accident that he had been using the carmaker’s Full Self-Driving software.
Surveillance footage from San Francisco Bay Bridge shows a Tesla coming to a stop within a highway tunnel, and an eight-car pileup that followed, according to a recent report from The Intercept.
The accident, which occurred on November 24, halted traffic on the road for over an hour and injured nine people, including a 2-year-old, the publication reported. The Intercept obtained two surveillance videos from the incident via a public records request.
At the time of the accident, the Tesla driver told local police the car had been under the influence of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and had moved into the left lane and come to a stop directly in front of another vehicle, the publication reported, citing a traffic crash report from the incident. Spokespeople from NHTSA and California Department of Transportation did not confirm whether the FSD feature was activated.
The video from The Intercept reporter Ken Klippenstein shows the Tesla moving into the left lane with its blinker and quickly coming to a stop in front of another car.
—Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) January 10, 2023
On the day of the pile-up, a witness to the scene, Shayna Kelly of San Francisco, told KTVU that she saw the Tesla abruptly swerving.
“He just made a sudden stop,” she said. “At that point there was nowhere to go.”
FSD is an add-on to Tesla’s Autopilot driver assistance feature that enables the vehicle to automatically change lanes, enter and exit highways, recognize stop signs and traffic lights, and park. The software is in beta testing and it still requires a licensed driver to monitor the system at all times.
A spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told Insider the agency had launched an investigation into the crash. As of December 22, the agency has launched at least 41 investigations into Tesla crashes where automated features including automatic emergency braking and Autopilot or FSD were involved, CNBC previously reported.
On Monday, Associated Press reported that the NHTSA, as part of an investigation into multiple Tesla accidents, is also reviewing a tweet from Tesla CEO Elon Musk in which the billionaire said he planned to update FSD software to get rid of a steering wheel monitoring feature for some drivers.
Tesla’s FSD software has faced criticism in the past. Over the years, beta testers have taken to YouTube to post examples of bugs in the software from phantom braking and attempts to turn into the wrong lane to incidents when the software appeared to fail to recognize pedestrians in the road.
Last year, the California Department of Motor Vehicles accused Tesla of deceptive marketing practices in the advertising of Autopilot and FSD. In 2021, a man was arrested after he was pulled over for riding in the back seat of his Tesla while using Full Self-Driving.
Read the full story on The Intercept’s website.
