News
Tesla’s alleged Thanksgiving FSD crash in SF is being recreated by media
Tesla Owners Club of East Bay cofounder Wilmer Awayan teamed up with the local media to simulate an accident with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta engaged. The club shared behind-the-scenes videos and photos on Twitter.
On Thanksgiving Day, the owner of a 2021 Tesla Model S claimed that his vehicle was operating with Tesla’s FSD Beta engaged and that the technology malfunctioned, causing an eight-car pile-up on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge.
The club tweeted that it had the unique opportunity to host an FSD Beta ride along with Brooks Jarosz with KTVU to simulate and re-enact what could have occurred in the accident. At this time, KTVU hasn’t published its story yet, but San Francisco has been dealing with a rainstorm that’s been keeping the local news crews pretty busy.
Al Shen, president of the club, told Teslarati that this was a great opportunity to share a first-hand look at Tesla’s FSD Beta technology.
FSD thru the same spot the accident occurred. Couldn’t get the original tweet to include this video. Camera crew was along for the ride. pic.twitter.com/ahWtNGmtVs
— Tesla East Bay Fremont (@TeslaOwnersEBay) January 13, 2023
In the video above, Shen shared footage of FSD Beta at the exact location of the accident, noting that the camera crew was along for the ride. Shen told Teslarati that he received an email from an investigative reporter from his local Fox News Station affiliate Channel 2.
-
“They were seeking a chance to re-enact and test out what FSD capability is and how it works on roads, particularly on the section of the SF Bay Bridge, one of the busiest bridges in America where that Tesla Driver caused that eight-car pile up on thanksgiving 2022,” he said.
Shen chose to help his local news station because he felt it was a unique opportunity to share a first-hand look at Tesla’s technology.
“As educated owners and a Tesla Owners enthusiast group here to support the brand’s mission, we felt it was a unique opportunity to give a first-hand look at what Tesla’s emerging autonomy and driver’s assist features for Full Self Driving look like from inside a Tesla as opposed to only reading about it or third-hand knowledge,” he said.
“We utilized FSD beta to navigate us to our rendezvous location and proceeded on the simulated drive across the SF-Oakland Bay bridge, even with inclement rain weather, the system performed nominally under rainy conditions although slower than some traffic.”
“As the FSD Beta vehicle approached the infamous tunnel where the Thanksgiving crash occurred, we proceeded through and even simulated a lane change similar to the one seen in the now-released traffic footage. Again we noticed a slight deceleration but nothing as extreme as what occurred in the accident.”
“FSD Beta offered some lane changes, which we declined to proceed with, the news team was impressed with the visualization and the car’s ability to visualize and process the world around it in real-time.”
“What we felt paramount to do, despite incurring a legitimate strike, was that our driver purposely disobeyed the software and did not confirm when warnings came to put our hands on the wheel and remain attentive at all times. The vehicle disengaged and began to slow down, however, given the open ‘testing’ environment we were in, we pressed the accelerator and resumed our drive at safer speeds and distances,” Shen added.
-
Update:
KTVU aired the video on this evening’s news.
Here’s the @KTVU evening news covering the simulated @Tesla FSD/AP drive we took @BrooksKTVU on this morning across the SF Bay Bridge to dive deeper into what sadly transpired on Thanksgiving 2022. 🔑: It’s on all of us as drivers to be attentive. pic.twitter.com/gwGnuVq7b6
— Tesla East Bay Fremont (@TeslaOwnersEBay) January 14, 2023
Disclosure: Johnna is a $TSLA shareholder and believes in Tesla’s mission.
Your feedback is welcome. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.
-
Teslarati is now on TikTok. Follow us for interactive news & more. Teslarati is now on TikTok. Follow us for interactive news & more. You can also follow Teslarati on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success.
SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on Monday when several Raptor engines did not ignite, and another on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions in Starbase, Texas.
The launch was overwhelmingly successful. SpaceX was able to complete a necessary test of the heat shield tiles by increasing the acceleration of Starship from launch throughout the flight; 20 Starlink v3 satellites were released with no issue; the Super Heavy Booster landed safely in the Gulf of America, Ship successfully reignited engines while in space; and it also splashed down without incident in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Nevertheless, more details are coming out about Starship, and Musk is doing the talking.
Starship Will Be Retrieved in the Ocean
Musk revealed on Tuesday night that Starship would be recovered by a ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX routinely tries to recover Starship after splashdown in an effort to find out more about the flight by examining the spacecraft afterward.
We’re sending a ship out to recover Starship https://t.co/fUqUZTITO9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2026
-
This helps engineers find out more about why things might have happened, allows them to examine any potential damage or anomalies that might have occurred, and increases the chances of an even more successful flight next time thanks to the additional information recovered.
Ship Could Have Been Caught by Tower Arms, Musk claims
Musk has already indicated that SpaceX will plan to attempt a catch of Starship with the 14th test flight. While this would be a major accomplishment, it would be an expected next step, considering the fact that the Super Heavy Booster has already been caught by the chopsticks on numerous occasions.
The ship landing was precise, meaning that it would have been caught by the tower arms https://t.co/6nbNrRfX9P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
A ship catch would be a great indication of where SpaceX stands in terms of reusability and launch cadence. A successful catch with relatively no incidents would be a good sign that SpaceX is nearing a more frequent launch of Starship, but also that the reusability of the massive rocket would be something many would expect in the near future.
It is a necessity to make life multiplanetary.
-
Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.
The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.
Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”
People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years.
Mars lander a few years sooner.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”
-
Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.
Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.
In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.
The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) got an absolutely crazy price target rating from Raymond James after the company experienced a tough first few weeks following its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Despite the tumultuous start, SpaceX has plenty of believers, and the company’s massively successful Starship launch last Friday, its 13th test flight of the massive rocket, went so smoothly that Raymond James analysts pushed its price target on the company to roughly 7 times its current trading level.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
The firm officially put a “Strong Buy” rating and an $800 price target on the stock. It currently trades at around $113. Its all-time high is $225.64, reaching this trading level shortly after shares first went public.
Raymond James’ price target is tied to the firm’s confidence after Starship’s 13th test flight. Analysts at the firm said it was an incremental step that reduces engineering risks, citing the widely successful heat shield test that CEO Elon Musk recently detailed, the smooth deployment of Starlink V3 satellites, and a successful in-space engine relight.
SpaceX also managed to see Starship splash down safely in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy Booster fell down to the Gulf of America with no incidents.
It is interesting to see these launches have such a tremendous impact on the stock and what investors think of it. After SpaceX initially delayed the Starship launch last week, shares fell tremendously. Most probably did not realize that the stand-down is a standard practice, especially if everything is not perfect.
-
The mission was initially aborted due to an issue with Raptor engines. This was resolved, and Starship launched last Friday after another delay on Thursday, which was caused by weather.
Now that analysts have seen what SpaceX launches are capable of and how impressive the feat is, firms are adjusting their price targets accordingly, making it known that they have high expectations for the space exploration company.
Elon Musk sheds two new bits of detail on Starship after 13th test launch
Elon Musk updates the SpaceX timeline for Mars
