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Tesla owner credits Autopilot for avoiding disaster in odd collision with distracted driver
A Tesla Model 3 owner is thanking his vehicle’s Autopilot system for saving his vehicle from fishtailing out of control after contact with a distracted driver.
During a nighttime drive on California Highway 880, a Model 3 owner who wished to be referred to as Rorlover, was minding his own business and using Tesla’s Autopilot functionality to travel. Suddenly, a Nissan sedan quickly approached the all-electric vehicle from the rear, shifted lanes, and appeared to attempt a “pit maneuver.” The contact sent the Nissan spinning into the left-hand retaining wall, while the Model 3 maintained control and safely slowed down and came to a halt on the shoulder of the road.
“I do credit the Tesla Autopilot for keeping the car heading straight after being hit,” Rorlover said to Teslarati. “I was really quite impressed.”
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- Credit: u/Rorlover11 on Reddit
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- Credit: u/Rorlover11 on Reddit
Rorlover initially posted the incident on a Subreddit, and although the incident appeared to be on purpose, Rorlover says the driver was actually distracted and accidentally made contact with his Tesla.
“The police report confirms there was nothing but a young and distracted driver. No road rage or attempted murder—hopefully, they’ve learned their lesson.”
-->The impact caused significant damage to the rear passenger door on the driver’s side of the Model 3, but it was by far the more fortunate vehicle in the event. The Nissan collided head-on with a jersey wall, sending debris all over the highway and ultimately lead to a six-vehicle pile-up that shut down the side of the highway the two cars were traveling on.
Rorlover walked away from the incident unharmed. The driver of the Nissan was taken to the hospital after a brief interview with Police, but the nature of their injuries is unknown.
The Model 3’s weight, which is supported by a large battery pack that gives the vehicle a low center of gravity, may have assisted in the car’s ability to maintain control. However, Rorlover’s description of the accident implies that Autopilot deserves more of the credit than the car’s weight distribution. Rorlover shared an exclusive video of the accident with Teslarati and stated that the impressive nature of Autopilot’s handling could be recognized from the Dashcam perspective of the vehicle.
“I didn’t share it initially as it’s not that exciting, unless you know it’s Autopilot doing the steering,” he said.
Tesla has made significant strides in its development of self-driving characteristics this year. In addition to releasing a more broad Autopilot functionality earlier this year that included driving on City Streets and Automatic Traffic Light Navigation, Tesla also rolled out its Full Self-Driving Beta in October. The release has revealed Tesla’s complex self-driving software, and CEO Elon Musk expects a Level 5 Autonomy version to be released next year.
-->The Model 3 already holds a Top Safety Pick+ recommendation from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) and also achieved the lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). With its focus on semi-autonomous driving features, the inclusion of basic Autopilot with any Tesla car hints toward an even more robust safety system. After Autopilot prevented the Model 3 from fishtailing and colliding with a jersey wall, perhaps the system could contribute to even higher safety ratings in future tests.
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Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month.
Tesla’s sales momentum in China strengthened in November, with wholesale volumes rising to 86,700 units, reversing a slowdown seen in October.
New data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows a 9.95% year-on-year increase and a 40.98% jump month-over-month. This was partly driven by tightened delivery windows, targeted marketing, and buyers moving to secure vehicles before changes to national purchase tax incentives take effect.
Tesla’s November rebound coincided with a noticeable spike in Model Y interest across China. Delivery wait times extended multiple times over the month, jumping from an initial 2–5 weeks to estimated handovers in January and February 2026 for most five-seat variants. Only the six-seat Model Y L kept its 4–8 week estimated delivery timeframe.
The company amplified these delivery updates across its Chinese social media channels, urging buyers to lock in orders early to secure 2025 delivery slots and preserve eligibility for current purchase tax incentives, as noted in a CNEV Post report. Tesla also highlighted that new inventory-built Model Y units were available for customers seeking guaranteed handovers before December 31.
This combination of urgency marketing and genuine supply-demand pressure seemed to have helped boost November’s volumes, stabilizing what had been a year marked by several months of year-over-year declines.
-->For the January–November period, Tesla China recorded 754,561 wholesale units, an 8.30% decline compared to the same period last year. The company’s Shanghai Gigafactory continues to operate as both a domestic production base and a major global export hub, building the Model 3 and Model Y for markets across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, among other territories.
Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
Tesla appears to be making a change to its exterior side repeater cameras, which are used for the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, and other features, like Sentry Mode.
The change appears to be a potential upgrade in preparation for the AI5 suite, which CEO Elon Musk said will be present on a handful of vehicles next year, but will not be widely implemented until 2027.
Currently, Tesla uses a Sony sensor lens with the model number IMX963, a 5-megapixel camera with better dynamic range and low-light performance over the past iteration in Hardware 3 vehicles. Cameras in HW3 cars were only 1.2 megapixels.
However, Tesla is looking to upgrade, it appears, as Tesla hacker greentheonly has spotted a new sensor model in its firmware code, with the model number IMX00N being explicitly mentioned:
Looks like Tesla is changing (upgrading?) cameras in (some?) new cars produced.
Where as HW4 to date used exterior cameras with IMX963, now they (might potentially) have something called IMX00N— green (@greentheonly) December 1, 2025
Sony has not announced any formal specifications for the IMX00N model, and although IMX963 has been used in AI4/HW4 vehicles, it only makes sense that Tesla would prepare to upgrade these external cameras once again in preparation for what it believes to be the second hardware iteration capable of fully autonomous self-driving.
Tesla has maintained that AI4/HW4 vehicles are capable of self-driving operation, but AI5 will likely help the company make significant strides, especially in terms of overall performance and data collection.
Tesla last updated its exterior cameras on its vehicles back in early 2023, as it transitioned to the 5-megapixel IMX963. It also added additional cameras to its vehicles in January with the new Model Y, which featured an additional lens on the front bumper to help with Full Self-Driving.
Tesla’s new self-driving computer (HW4): more cameras, radar, and more
Tesla sees sharp November rebound in China as Model Y demand surges
Tesla bear gets blunt with beliefs over company valuation
