Elon Musk is pushing back against claims that a Tesla Cybertruck crash in Texas was caused by Autopilot, saying internal data clearly shows the driver was in control of the vehicle in the moments leading up to the impact.
The comments come after dashcam footage of the August 2025 crash circulated widely online, with sensationalistic mainstream media reports suggesting the vehicle tried to drive a Houston mom and her baby off a highway overpass with Autopilot engaged.
The incident has since become the subject of a lawsuit filed by driver Justine Saint Amour, who is seeking $1 million in damages. The suit alleges Tesla’s driver-assistance system malfunctioned and caused the crash.
A Houston driver was in a Cybertruck in August 2025 when the Autopilot-controlled vehicle drove straight into a concrete barrier on a Y-shaped overpass on 69 Eastex Freeway. The vehicle was expected to follow a curve to the right, but when it failed to do so, she disengaged the… pic.twitter.com/LopI3y5elg
— Austin Statesman (@statesman) March 6, 2026
Musk has now responded directly to those claims, saying on X that internal data shows Autopilot (or FSD, as Autopilot has never been available on the Cybertruck) was disengaged 4 seconds before impact.
“Logs show driver disengaged Autopilot four seconds before crashing,” Musk said, adding, “As anyone knows who uses it, that video is not how Autopilot drives.”
According to Musk’s comments, the vehicle was under full manual control during the critical moments leading up to the collision, from around this frame in the video.
This detail is significant, as it directly challenges the central claim in the lawsuit—that the Cybertruck was operating autonomously when it veered off course.
In the footage, the Cybertruck initially appears to follow the curve of the overpass before abruptly continuing straight, and perhaps even accelerating into the barrier, which could indicate driver confusion or a delayed reaction.
The plaintiff’s legal team maintains that the system failed and that the driver attempted to regain control too late to avoid the crash. The lawsuit also alleges Tesla misrepresented the capabilities of its driver-assistance technology and failed to implement sufficient safety redundancies.
While Musk posted his comments on X, Tesla has not formally responded to the lawsuit, and the case remains in its early stages. The case will likely continue, and as more telemetry data becomes available through discovery, a clearer picture of what happened in the moments before the crash is likely to emerge.
