Man Catches Tesla Doing Donuts In Middle Of The Road By ARCO. Then He Realizes There’s No Driver: ‘Near A Gas Station Is Scary’
'My Toyota would never.'
A man captured a bizarre scene in California after he says he spotted a Tesla spinning in circles in the middle of the road with no one behind the wheel.
User @maurolarin251 shared footage of the incident, which he says happened near an ARCO gas station at Crenshaw Boulevard and Century Boulevard in California.
In the video, the Tesla appears to repeatedly spin around in the intersection while other drivers watch from a distance.
According to @maurolarin251, there was no driver inside the car. However, it’s unclear from the video what caused the vehicle to move, whether anyone was controlling it, or what happened before the recording started.
Eventually, the Tesla hits a fire hydrant, sending water into the air and directly onto the vehicle.
It’s unclear who owned the car or whether police responded to the incident. Still, the unusual scene shocked viewers online, with many trying to figure out exactly what happened. As of this writing, the video had more than 9.6 million views.
Can A Tesla Drive Without Someone Behind The Wheel?
While @maurolarin251 claims there was no driver inside the Tesla, the video doesn’t show what caused the vehicle to move.
Teslas offer driver-assistance features, including Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised), but the company says both require an attentive driver.
According to Tesla’s owner’s manuals, Autopilot features “require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.” The company also says drivers using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) must remain attentive and ready to take control.
Tesla’s Summon and Actually Smart Summon features allow certain vehicles to move without a driver inside, but they are designed for low-speed parking lots and driveways. Tesla says users are responsible for monitoring the vehicle and its surroundings while using the feature.
The company also warns that drivers should not exit a vehicle unless it is properly shifted into park. Tesla vehicles can use features like Vehicle Hold and Creep Mode, which affect how the car behaves when stopped, but the vehicle is not intended to be left unattended while still able to move.
Tesla has repeatedly emphasized that its cars are not fully autonomous. Drivers are still responsible for the vehicle, even when using advanced features.
The technology has also faced scrutiny from regulators, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has investigated crashes involving Tesla driver-assistance features.
Still, there is no evidence from the video showing that Autopilot, Full Self-Driving (Supervised), or any other Tesla feature played a role in the incident.
’Driverless Cars Seem Waymo Dangerous Than They Admit’
Commenters who watched the video had plenty of questions about what exactly happened.
Some viewers immediately questioned whether the Tesla was actually empty.
“I don’t believe there was no one in the car,” one person claimed. “Teslas don’t work like that.”
Others said the video did not give them much confidence in newer vehicle technology, even though it’s unclear what caused the Tesla to move.
“This is why I don’t like these Tesla cars,” one viewer wrote.
“And they got us convinced that we still want robots and we still want AI,” another added.
“Reason 756,893,956 to not get a Tesla,” a third commented.
One commenter jokingly compared the clip to autonomous vehicles from another company.
“Ad for Waymo?” they wrote.
Meanwhile, several people couldn’t help but make jokes.
“I guess that’s what you call ghost riding the whip literally,” one commenter wrote.
“Car simply needed to kool off,” another joked after the Tesla crashed into the hydrant.
“THE CAR IS CRAZY JUST LIKE THE INVENTOR,” another person added.
Motor1 has reached out to @maurolarin251 via direct message on TikTok and Tesla via email. We’ll update this story if we hear back.
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