Tesla Driver Says FSD Was On in Fatal I-80 Crash

A 71-year-old man was killed early on Thursday after he was struck by a Tesla while crossing Interstate 80 in Vallejo, California, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The Tesla’s driver told officers the car was in Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode at the time, CHP said. CHP said the car’s dashcam video shows it braking and steering to avoid him.

The man, from Vallejo, has not been named. “The Solano Area CHP extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased during this difficult time,” the agency said, according to ABC7.

CHP Says the Dashcam Shows the Tesla Braking and Steering Left

The crash happened around 2:30am local time (10:30 BST) on westbound I-80 at the Interstate 780 interchange, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, citing CHP. ABC7 reported that officers were alerted to a collision reported around 2:35am.

The driver, a 26-year-old man from San Francisco, stayed at the scene, cooperated with officers and gave them the dashcam footage, CHP said. “The driver stated the vehicle was being operated in Full Self-Driving (FSD) autonomous mode at the time of the crash,” the agency said in a statement quoted by the Chronicle.

Based on that video, the Tesla was travelling at about 70mph when the man entered the freeway from the right shoulder and began crossing towards the centre divider, ABC7 reported. CHP described what the footage showed in a statement on social media: “The video showed the Tesla’s brakes being applied as the vehicle steered to the left in an effort to avoid the pedestrian. Despite these evasive actions, the right front portion of the Tesla struck the individual.” CBS San Francisco said the Tesla was in the second lane from the left.

At least one more vehicle struck the man as he lay in the traffic lanes, CHP said, and no other vehicles stopped. CBS reported that CHP has no description of the other vehicles or drivers. The CHP Solano office posted on X at 15:04 BST that it was “investigating a fatal pedestrian crash on I-80 WB at I-780 early this morning”, and it has asked anyone who saw the crash or has information about the other vehicles to call 707-639-5600.

The Tesla driver was not cited, CHP Officer Scott Heitman told the Chronicle. He said charges could be filed through the district attorney’s office if the investigation finds the driver was negligent in a way that caused the collision.

None of the reports reviewed by TSN, including those from the Chronicle, ABC7, CBS San Francisco and The Verge, included a comment from Tesla.

A Separate I-80 Crash Last Week Drew a CHP Warning on FSD

The Verge noted that last week there was a separate incident on the same highway, in which a driver told CHP he was asleep and using driver assistance when his Tesla hit a patrol car parked at a crash scene near Fairfield. TSN reported at the time that it had not been confirmed whether FSD was engaged in that case. After that crash, CHP warned: “Despite its name, full self-driving is not fully autonomous. Technology does not relieve drivers of their responsibility to safely operate their vehicles,” according to The Verge.

Tesla’s own position is similar. The company classes FSD as “an SAE Level 2 partial automation system requiring a fully attentive driver who is engaged in the driving task at all times,” according to a document from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The Chronicle reported that the feature can steer, change lanes and park but requires drivers to stay alert, and that Tesla says its 360-degree cameras and other safety features can reduce the severity of crashes or prevent them.

NHTSA Has Two Open Investigations Into FSD

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened a preliminary evaluation on 7 October 2025 into traffic safety violations with FSD engaged, mainly cars running red lights and changing lanes into oncoming traffic. It covers an estimated 2,882,566 vehicles and, when it opened, listed 58 incidents, 14 crashes and 23 injuries, with no fatalities.

A second inquiry, opened on 17 October 2024, looks at FSD crashes in reduced roadway visibility. NHTSA upgraded it to an engineering analysis on 18 March 2026, citing nine incidents including one fatality. In a 2 July letter to Tesla, it asked for more information on how FSD detects and warns drivers about glare, fog and airborne dust. Neither investigation concerns the Vallejo crash, and none of the reports says whether NHTSA will examine it.

TSN has also reported on a fatal crash in New Jersey that Tesla’s own report to NHTSA marked as “Verified Engaged”, and on an appeals court ruling last week that threw out class certification in a California case over Tesla’s FSD hardware claims.

A Driver’s Statement Is So Far the Only Evidence FSD Was Engaged

What is public so far comes from CHP’s account. The claim that FSD was engaged rests on what the driver told officers; CHP has not said whether it has confirmed it from the car’s data, and Tesla has not commented. The footage, as CHP describes it, shows the car responding: it braked and steered left before the impact. CHP has not said whether the system or the driver applied the brakes or steering, and it has made no finding on fault. The driver stopped, stayed and handed over the video, giving investigators footage of the crash itself. The other vehicle or vehicles that struck the man did not stop and have not been identified.

The NHTSA files show that federal scrutiny of FSD is continuing, and that some of it has led to changes. In the visibility inquiry, NHTSA records that Tesla began developing an update to its degradation detection system after a fatal crash and that, by Tesla’s own analysis, the update “may have affected 3 of the 9 incidents” had it been installed. NHTSA kept the inquiry open and escalated it, saying Tesla’s responses revealed further crashes in which the system either did not detect a degraded state or did not warn the driver in time. NHTSA’s opening document for its newer inquiry states the basic rule for a Level 2 system plainly: “The driver remains fully responsible at all times for driving the vehicle, including complying with applicable traffic laws.”

CHP is still looking for the drivers who did not stop. Its Solano office is on 707-639-5600.