Tesla Cybertruck owners continue to prove that love is blind, not only by overlooking the electric pickup’s questionable design but also its flawed semi-autonomous driving systems.
The latest victim of placing too much trust into Tesla’s so-called Full Self-Driving technology was US man Jonathan Challinger, who claims his Cybertruck drove into a pole while the advanced driver assist system was active.
In a post on X – formerly Twitter, and owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk – Mr Challinger wrote that his Cybertruck “crashed into a curb and then a light post” while the latest version of Full Self-Driving was active.
Mr Challinger claims the Cybertruck “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”.
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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
Tesla markets Full Self-Driving – technically a Level 2 autonomous driving system, despite the name – as having the ability to accelerate, brake and steer the car itself, with the system claimed to be capable of navigating, changing lanes and following road signal directions.
However, the owner’s manual warns drivers must be prepared to take over control at any time, either for emergencies or in case of a failure with the technology.
The use of a mobile phone while using the semi-autonomous mode is also forbidden.
Thankfully Mr Challinger was able to walk away unscathed, but rather than be mad at Tesla for the flaws in its system, he instead praised the electric vehicle (EV) giant “for engineering the best passive safety in the world” while calling his inattentiveness a “big fail on my part”.
It’s worth noting that the Tesla Cybertruck hasn’t been independently crash-tested by any recognised body, meaning we don’t know how it stands up against its competitors directly.
When deliveries of the Cybertruck began in late 2023, Tesla showcased a brief video of the Cybertruck hitting a concrete wall front-on at 35mph (56.3km/h) – rather than with an overlap at 40mph (64.4km/h), as is the standard in the IIHS’s US crash tests.
