Lifestyle
Tesla owner relates dramatic tale of road rage, a gunshot, and a mad dash to save a boy’s life
People tend to do ridiculously foolish things when consumed by road rage. US statistics indicate that one in three collisions involves road rage, and eight out of ten Americans are involved in road rage behavior at least once a year. With such numbers, it is no surprise that road rage is the cause of approximately 30 murders annually in the United States. One such incident almost happened recently, if it wasn’t for a Good Samaritan driving an electric car.
A Tesla Model S owner (who declined to have his name published) was driving on Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, after getting his COVID-19 vaccine when he caught sight of a crash near Monroe Drive. As the EV driver got closer, he saw a woman crawling out of her vehicle while holding a small child. The woman was screaming for help, stating that her baby’s been shot. She was desperately trying to flag down passing vehicles, but some drivers, despite gawking at the crash, were simply driving away. The Tesla owner, who had his window down already, sprung into action.
Breaking the Bystander Effect
In a statement to the Chicago Tribune, the Tesla owner stated that he didn’t even get out of the car. “It wasn’t much of a conversation. I remember her pleading: ‘Help me!’” the EV driver said. Sharing his experience further, the Tesla owner noted that he told the woman, who was later identified as the boy’s grandmother, to just jump in, and that he would drive them to a hospital. A man that was with the woman and injured child also rode with the pair.
The Model S owner noted that his adrenaline was pumping then, and all he could focus on was to get his three passengers to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which was several blocks away. As soon as the group arrived at Northwestern’s emergency room, hospital staff rushed the woman, the boy, and the man into the medical facility. That was the last time that the EV driver saw them together, though the man later expressed his thanks.
The boy, who was identified as 21-month-old Kayden Swann, had been shot in the head during a road rage incident that started on Lake Shore Drive. According to police, the shooter and the victims did not appear to know each other, though the incident seemed to have been caused by one of the drivers not letting the other into their lane. Kayden was in a child safety seat in a white Lincoln, while his grandmother was in the passenger seat. The grandmother’s boyfriend was driving.
As per a witness, the Lincoln and an SUV started driving erratically in what appeared to be an altercation. Eventually, someone from the SUV fired several shots at the Lincoln, one of which hit Kayden in the head. Another witness noted that the man driving the Lincoln also returned fire. The crash happened not long after.
The Aftermath
The Tesla owner told the Tribune that he did not want to leave the hospital after transporting the injured boy, partly because his adrenaline was still running. After about two minutes, two Chicago police officers arrived at the hospital. The authorities spoke with the Tesla owner and gathered evidence and blood samples from the Model S’ back seats. The Tesla driver also shared videos from his vehicle’s built-in dashcam. Explaining his actions, the Tesla owner noted that he could not have lived with himself if he did not help.
“I’m glad we could get there in time. I didn’t know the baby had been shot in the head. The truth is, as fast as this happened, I have no idea what they even looked like. I mean, they needed help. Ultimately, I could not have that on my conscience. I could be inconvenienced, and that was the cause of someone’s death?” the man said.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Dr. Marcelo Malakooti of Lurie Children’s Hospital, where Kayden Swann was transferred to, noted that the 21-month old boy was in a medical coma to protect his brain. He was also hooked up to a ventilator. This weekend, a local ABC report noted that Kayden had been removed from a medically induced coma, but he was still looked up to a ventilator.
Jushawn Brown, the 43-year-old man with Kayden and his grandmother, had been slapped with felony gun charges and released on a $5,000 bail. The SUV driver had not been apprehended as of date.
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Elon Musk
NASA sends humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972 – Here’s what’s next
NASA’s Artemis II launched four astronauts toward the Moon on the first crewed lunar mission since 1972.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket launches carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist on NASA’s Artemis II mission, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from Operations and Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft launched at 6:35pm EDT from Launch Complex 39B. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA launched four astronauts toward the Moon on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System rocket at 6:35 p.m. EDT, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon and back.
The mission does not include a lunar landing. It is a test flight designed to validate the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems, navigation, and communications in deep space with a crew aboard for the first time. If the crew reaches the planned distance of 252,000 miles from Earth, they will set a new record for the farthest any human has ever traveled, surpassing even the Apollo 13 distance record.
As Teslarati reported, SpaceX holds a central role in what comes next. The Starship Human Landing System is under contract to carry astronauts to the lunar surface for Artemis IV, now targeting 2028, after NASA restructured its mission sequence due to delays in Starship’s orbital refueling demonstration. Before any Moon landing happens, SpaceX must prove it can transfer propellant between two Starships in orbit, something no rocket program has done at this scale.
The last time humans left Earth’s orbit was 53 years ago. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 were the final people to walk on the Moon, a record that stands to this day. Elon Musk has long argued that returning is not optional. “It’s been now almost half a century since humans were last on the Moon,” Musk said. “That’s too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the Moon.”
The Artemis program involves 60 countries signed onto the Artemis Accords, and this mission sets several firsts beyond distance. Glover becomes the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American astronaut to reach the Moon’s vicinity. According to NASA’s live mission updates, the spacecraft’s solar arrays deployed successfully after liftoff and the crew completed a proximity operations demonstration within the first hours of flight.
Artemis II is step one. The Moon landing and the permanent lunar base come later. But after more than five decades, humans are heading back.
Elon Musk
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is coming to the Tesla Diner with new ambitions
Tesla’s Optimus robot left the Hollywood Diner within months of opening. Now Musk is planning its return with a bigger role and a major Gen 3 upgrade underway.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus robot was one of the most talked-about features when the Tesla Diner opened on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood on July 21, 2025. Dubbed “Poptimus” by Tesla fans, the Gen 2 robot stood upstairs at the retro-futuristic, drive-in theater and Tesla Supercharging station, scooping popcorn into bags and handing them to guests with a wave.
The diner itself had been years in the making. Elon Musk first floated the idea in 2018 with a tweet about building an “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant” at a Hollywood Supercharger. What eventually opened was a unique two-story neon-lit space, with 80 EV charging stalls, and Optimus serving as a live demonstration of where Tesla’s ambitions were headed.
If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes.
An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging! https://t.co/zmbv6GfqKf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2025
But Optimus did not stay long, and was gone by December 2025.
Now, the robot is set to return with a more demanding job. Musk has ambitions for Optimus to take on a food runner role in 2026, delivering meals directly to cars at the Supercharger stalls. While the latest Gen 3 Optimus is likely to initially take on its previous popcorn-serving role, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Optimus to see a quick promotion. With improved hand dexterity that features 50 total actuators and 22 degrees of freedom per hand, and significantly more powerful processing through Tesla’s latest AI5 chip that includes Grok-powered voice interaction, Musk described Optimus at the Abundance Summit on March 12, 2026, as “by far the most advanced robot in the world, Nothing’s even close.”
Back to work
See you at Tesla Diner tomorrow pic.twitter.com/H3tTajrUbu
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) March 30, 2026
That confidence is backed by a major manufacturing shift. At the Q4 2025 earnings call in January, Musk announced Tesla would discontinue the Model S and Model X and convert those Fremont production lines to build Optimus. “It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end,” he said, calling for a pivot that reflects where the Tesla’s future lies.
Elon Musk
The Boring Company clears final Nashville hurdle: Music City loop is full speed ahead
The Boring Company has cleared its final Nashville hurdles, putting the Music City Loop on track for 2026.
The Boring Company has cleared one of its most significant regulatory milestones yet, securing a key easement from the Music City Center in Nashville just days ago, the latest in a series of approvals that have pushed the Music City Loop project firmly into construction reality.
On March 24, 2026, the Convention Center Authority voted to grant The Boring Company access to an easement along the west side of the Music City Center property, allowing tunneling beneath the privately owned venue. The move follows a unanimous 7-0 vote by the Metro Nashville Airport Authority on February 18, and a joint state and federal approval from the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration on February 25. Together, these green lights have cleared the path for a roughly 10-mile underground tunnel connecting downtown Nashville to Nashville International Airport, with potential extensions into midtown along West End Avenue.
Music City Loop could highlight The Boring Company’s real disruption
Nashville was selected by The Boring Company largely because of its rapid population growth and the strain that growth has placed on surface infrastructure. Traffic has become a persistent problem for residents, convention visitors, and airport travelers alike. The Music City Loop promises an approximately 8-minute underground transit time between downtown and the Nashville International Airport (BNA), removing thousands of vehicles from surface roads daily while operating as a fully electric, zero-emissions system at no cost to taxpayers.
The project fits squarely within a broader vision Musk has championed for years. In responding to a breakdown of the Loop’s construction costs, Musk posted on X: “Tunnels are so underrated.” The comment reflected a longstanding belief that underground transit represents one of the most cost-effective and scalable infrastructure solutions available. The Boring Company has claimed it can build 13 miles of twin tunnels in Nashville for between $240 million and $300 million total, a fraction of what comparable projects cost elsewhere in the country.
Image Credit: The Boring Company/Twitter
The Las Vegas Loop, The Boring Company’s first operational system, has served as a proof of concept. During the CONEXPO trade show in March 2026, the Vegas Loop transported approximately 82,000 passengers over five days at the Las Vegas Convention Center, demonstrating the system’s capacity during large-scale events. Nashville draws millions of convention visitors and tourists each year, and local business leaders have pointed to that same capacity as a major draw for supporting the project.
The Music City Loop was first announced in July 2025. Construction began within hours of the February 25 state approval, with The Boring Company’s Prufrock tunneling machine already in the ground the same evening. The first operational segment is targeted for late 2026, with the full route expected to be complete by 2029. The project represents one of the largest privately funded infrastructure efforts currently underway in the United States.
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