Video shows Tesla FSD turning Model 3 into impromptu dinghy after hydroplaning on flooded road while owner blames Tesla and wants to sue

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving technology, while quite impressive, has received a lot of criticism in recent months, thanks to a number of incidents involving Tesla vehicles with FSD enabled. A recent video, posted to the Wham Baam Teslacam YouTube channel, shows a Tesla Model 3 with FSB Beta enabled ploughing straight into a flooded section of road in California, causing a loss of control, and resulting in the vehicle becoming stranded in a pool of water on the side of the road.

Before hitting the puddle across the road and hydroplaning, the vehicle and its driver, named only as Ryan, both appeared to ignore posted signs warning of flooded sections of road. The Model 3 did not slow down at all before slamming into the puddle, and ultimately the vehicle needed to be towed out of the mess it had gotten into.

While the owner, Ryan, states that he plans to sue both Tesla and the city if possible, it seems unlikely that either lawsuit would go very far, since Tesla warns drivers to be attentive — previous lawsuits of a similar nature have not gone well for the drivers — and the municipality responsible did put out signs warning of flooded roads.

What this incident once again reiterates is that, despite the controversial name, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite is not a silver bullet for autonomous driving. Drivers still need to pay attention to what’s going on around them when using FSD, as they will still likely be held responsible for accidents that arise from FSD-related errors.

Buy a Seweder EV Charging Cable Garage Door Pass Through Protector on Amazon.

My interest in tech started in high school, rooting and flashing my Motorola Defy, but I really fell down the rabbit hole when I realised I could overclock the i7 930 in my Gigabyte pre-built PC. This tinkering addiction eventually lead me to study product design in university. I think tech should improve the lives of the people using it, no matter the field. I like to read and write about laptops, smartphones, software and trends in technology.