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Tesla Model S on Autopilot crashes into stalled van on highway
A Tesla Model S crashes into the back of a stalled vehicle on a highway. Who is responsible, Autopilot, TACC, or the driver? Ultimately, we know the answer but not everyone wants to admit it.

A Tesla Model S on Autopilot crashed into the back of a stalled van in the high speed lane of a highway this week. The owner Chris Thomann who caught the accident through his dash cam believes it shows the Traffic Aware Cruise Control/Autopilot feature of his car malfunctioned. According to the description on Thomann’s YouTube video, he claims Autopilot and TACC have worked flawlessly many times before, but this time “The forward collision warning turned on way too late, it was set to normal warning distance”.
Updated: The original YouTube video has been marked as private so we added this animated gif via CNET showing the events of what happened.
There have been several instances lately in which Tesla drivers claim their cars malfunctioned, leading to collisions. Is there something wrong with these systems that people should be aware of?
The answer appears to be “No.” On Reddit, Tesla owner Ricodic took the time to post this language from page 69 of the Model S owner’s manual:
Warning: Traffic-Aware Cruise Control can not detect all objects and may not brake/decelerate for stationary vehicles, especially in situations when you are driving over 50 mph (80 km/h) and a vehicle you are following moves out of your driving path and a stationary vehicle or object, bicycle, or pedestrian is in front of you instead. Always pay attention to the road ahead and stay prepared to take immediate corrective action. Depending on Traffic-Aware Cruise Control to avoid a collision can result in serious injury or death. In addition, Traffic-Aware Cruise Control may react to vehicles or objects that either do not exist or are not in the lane of travel, causing Model S to slow down unnecessarily or inappropriately.
The problem is not with the software, it is with human drivers. It’s not that we don’t trust the technology; it’s that we trust it too much. We assume it means we can read the paper on the way to work or fall asleep at the wheel. We get lulled into a sense of false security by how well Autopilot and TACC work most of the time. The failure is in the human brain, which needs a moment or two to recognize that an emergency is in the making and that it is time to re-assert control over the vehicle.
Tesla owner Jarrod Overson spoke about this candidly in a post on Medium after his car suffered a collision in April. “Once I recognized the car was stopped in front of me, I explicitly remember panicking with the following thoughts going through my head: “Does my car see this? Is it going to do anything? NO. NO IT ISN’T. EMERGENCY.” In retrospect, the actions I needed to take were obvious . I should have regained control immediately. That half of a second or more probably would have made a lot of difference. The problem is that my brain wasn’t primed to have that conversation with itself. Now it is.”
Overson knew some would take him to task for his error in judgment. “I’m not looking forward to the comments calling me stupid for not doing this automatically, but I felt like it’s an important topic to be open about. I’d wager we all had a time in our lives where we didn’t know the extent of some technology, trusted it too far, and had to recalibrate after we understood the limits. Now we might just have to be a little bit luckier to get to that recalibration stage.”
It’s what autonomous driving experts refer to as “the handoff,” that brief period of time between when everything is going along serenely and when it is not. It’s when the computer suddenly finds itself in one of what Elon Musk calls a “corner case.” Those are instances that requires human input. Often, drivers have less than a second to react.
As good as Autopilot is — and it is getting better all the time — Tesla drivers still must be aware that the company and the software expect them to step in when necessary. Many put too much faith in the technology and are willing to abdicate ultimate responsibility for the operation of the car to machines.
The glowing praises we often hear from Elon make it easy to do. Perhaps Musk and Tesla could back their statements about the wonders they have created down a notch. Not everyone reads every page of the owner’s manual and even fewer commit everything found in the instructions to memory.
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These automakers are pushing to overturn California’s gas car ban
This lobbying group represents Detroit’s Big Three automakers, as well as several others selling vehicles in the U.S.

A lobbying group made up of several automakers is pushing Congress to ban California’s plan to phase out and ban new gas car sales altogether by 2035, ahead of a vote that could also affect the 11 other states that have followed with similar plans.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI), an organization representing the interests of Ford, General Motors (GM), Stellantis, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and several others, recently sent a letter to Congress requesting that it overturn a waiver granted to California letting it set its own emissions rules.
Later this week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on overturning the waiver granted to California under the 1968 Clean Air Act to impose the tightened standards, according to Reuters. In the previous letter, the AAI argued to Congress that automakers would be “forced to substantially reduce the number of overall vehicles for sale to inflate their proportion of electric vehicle sales,” adding that it would also boost prices and reduce competition in the market.
The waiver, enacted under the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), allows California to mandate at least 80 percent electric vehicle sales by 2035 under the Clean Air Act. The passage of disapproval of the waiver is being ushered under the Congressional Review Act, and an initial vote in the House of Representatives is set to take place on Wednesday.
READ MORE ON STATE EMISSIONS RULES: Tesla could face emissions credit tax in Washington
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia backed the EPA’s decision to grant the waiver last April, following a challenge from 17 Republican-run states. The group claimed that California was being given unconstitutional regulatory power in the decision, adding that other states didn’t have those same powers.
In December, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear out bids from Valero, the AAI, and other groups to oppose the 2035 California gas car sales ban, which would begin phasing them out in 2026 if the waiver remains in place.
You can see the full list of members of the AAI below, including automakers and a handful of other tech companies.
Companies represented by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI)
Here’s the full list of AAI members, according to the lobbying group’s website:
- AESC
- AISIN
- Aptiv
- Autoliv
- BMW Group
- Bosch
- Denso
- Emergency Safety Solutions
- Ferrari
- Ford
- GM
- Harman
- Honda
- Hyundai
- InEos Automotive
- Infineon
- Isuzu
- Jaguar-Land Rover
- Kia
- LG
- Luminar
- Magna
- Mazda
- McLaren
- Mercedes-Benz
- Mitsubishi Motors
- Nissan
- Nuro
- Panasonic
- Porsche
- Qualcomm
- RV Industry Association
- Samsung
- SiriusXM
- SK On
- Stellantis
- Subaru
- Texas Instruments
- Toyota
- Uber
- VinFast
- Volkswagen
- Volvo
- Zoox
California proposal to allow self-driving tests for heavy-duty trucks
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Neuralink’s third brain chip patient shares first video edited with BCI
The third Neuralink brain chip patient is the trial’s first patient with ALS and its first non-verbal patient, and he has detailed his experience regaining speech and more.

Elon Musk’s Neuralink has officially installed its brain-chip interface (BCI) into a third human patient, and the individual shared a video this week detailing his experiences gaining control of external devices and regaining the ability to talk through the use of AI.
On Monday, X user Bradford G Smith shared a video detailing his experience as the third person in the world to receive the Neuralink BCI, and as the first non-verbal patient and the first with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) to receive the implant. In the video, Smith details how the BCI works, how it’s less limiting than his previous eye tracker technology, and how it has literally helped him regain his voice through AI.
“I am typing this with my brain,” Smith wrote. “It is my primary communication.”
The video, which he says is the first edited directly with a BCI, is narrated by an AI-generated version of his old voice. Prior to the BCI, he was also unable to leave the house using his eye tracker, as it made it difficult to communicate unless he was in dark or low-light settings.
The video also shows how he’s able to connect with external devices using the BCI, with a live shots of him controlling his computer using a cursor.
You can see the full update below, which runs a little under 10 minutes.
READ MORE ON NEURALINK: Elon Musk: over 1,000 humans with Neuralink implants in 2026 is feasible
The news follows Neuralink’s initial update with Brad and other initial BCI patients, as was shared in a post on the company’s website in February. In it, Brad also explained how groundbreaking it was to be able to communicate outside and see his son win a robotics award, along with being able to consider leaving the city area for the first time in half a decade:
The most significant thing that happened this week will sound strange to you: I got to use the computer on the porch, and it worked!!
I went to [my child’s] soccer game, and the referee thought I was sleeping. I was actually able to talk outside. I [am] actually thinking about traveling outside the [city] metro [for] the first time in 5 years.
Both of Neuralink’s studies focus on restoring autonomy to people who are paraplegic through the use of external devices. The company gained initial approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to install the first BCI in a human patient in May 2023, with Noland Arbaugh being the first, a patient named Alex being the second, and Brad being the third.
Neuralink opened its Patient Registry worldwide earlier this month, allowing participants to submit to take part in the company’s initial PRIME and CONVOY studies. The firm also announced plans to operate the PRIME study out of a second location in Miami, Florida in January, after an initial location was launched in Phoenix, Arizona.
Last week, it was reported by Bloomberg that Neuralink is currently targeting a $500 million funding round at a valuation of $8.5 billion. Meanwhile, Neuralink has also been constructing office buildings near Austin, Texas, which initially aimed to be completed in May 2025.
Elon Musk
Tesla fends off new attack that will hurt consumers more than anyone else
Consumers stand to be hurt the most by a new bill that aims to take away Tesla’s Direct-to-Consumer licensing

Tesla is likely going to be forced to fend off a new attack that is much different than the petty vandalism, arson, and domestic terrorism it has faced from those who oppose the company and its CEO Elon Musk. It would hurt consumers more than anyone else.
Over the past several months, we have reported numerous instances of vandalism against Tesla. No victim is too big or too small to be a potential target, as everything from keying vehicles to having Molotov cocktails thrown at showrooms is sufficient in the eyes of perpetrators.
However, the latest attack appears to be politically motivated and could hurt Tesla, its consumers, and even other automakers, and it seems to be some form of retaliation against Musk due to his affiliation with President Trump.

President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
Lawmakers in New York state are now attempting to shut down Tesla showrooms in a move that would force the company to sell through dealer franchises, complicating the sales process and making the direct-to-consumer platform the company has used for years obsolete.
The New York Times reported that New York State Sen. Patricia Fahy is one of several lawmakers that is looking to hit Tesla where it hurts the most: its accessible and stress-free showrooms.
The problem is that this will hurt consumers more than Tesla.
Sen. Fahy said in March that the ease-of-sales platform Tesla uses has to be taken “from Elon Musk,” because “he’s part of an effort to go backwards.”
The licenses Tesla uses in the state allow it to sell cars directly to consumers instead of going through the traditional dealership model. These licenses, in Sen. Fahy’s perfect world, would be revoked from Tesla and given to other EV manufacturers. At one time, she was a proponent of Tesla and supported the company operating its D2C sales, stating it would cut emissions.
Now, Sen. Fahy believes Musk’s association with the Trump Administration is counterintuitive, as she says it is “killing all the grant funding for electric vehicle infrastructure, killing wind energy, killing anything that might address climate change.”
She continued by stating:
“The bottom line is, Tesla has lost their right to promote these when they’re part of an administration that wants to go backwards. Elon Musk was handed a privilege here.”
The bill is with the Senate and Assembly Finance committees.
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