Musk promotes blatant Tesla FSD misuse as crash lawyers rejoice

• Elon Musk promotes the misuse of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) by amplifying a video of a 98-year-old man who claims he doesn’t watch the road. The video shows Larry, a New Mexico resident, using FSD (Supervised) to drive without supervision. Musk quote-tweeted the clip, pushing it past 9 million views. Larry claims he trusts FSD 100% and doesn’t want to look at intersections. He also states that FSD hasn’t made mistakes in two months. The video is part of a larger trend where Tesla promotes FSD misuse in its own videos, including a clip of a driver making espresso behind the wheel. The company’s legal defense in FSD and Autopilot crashes relies on the argument that the driver is responsible for supervision. Musk’s endorsement of this behavior undermines the defense.

• Tesla’s disclaimer clarifies that FSD is a driver-assist system, not an autonomous one, and requires active supervision. Larry uses FSD in a way that violates the disclaimer, as he doesn’t watch the road at intersections. The system is designed to require the driver to stay prepared to take over, including at intersections. Tesla has faced lawsuits over FSD crashes, with a Florida jury finding it partly liable in a fatal crash and a $243 million judgment. The company is facing up to $14.5 billion in lawsuits. Musk’s promotion of this behavior is part of a larger pattern where Tesla encourages drivers to use FSD in ways that contradict its own terms. The gap between how Tesla sells FSD and what its terms demand is what plaintiffs’ lawyers are focusing on.

• The article highlights the contradiction between Tesla’s marketing and its legal stance. Musk’s endorsement of a driver who claims he doesn’t watch the road is part of a broader strategy to promote FSD misuse. The legal defense is based on the idea that the driver is responsible for supervision, but Tesla’s own disclaimer and the behavior of users like Larry show that the driver is not always supervising. The article also notes that FSD makes mistakes, like missing a restaurant sign, and that the system is not reliable enough for the kind of use Larry is employing. Tesla knows this, and the gap between its marketing and its terms is what is being exploited by plaintiffs’ lawyers. The article ends with a warning that if Larry is reported again, it will look bad, and that going solar can help reduce charging costs.

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