Tesla drove right through railroad crossing gates this week

[alarmguy]

OK, I am going to cut Tesla break here because I’m not against Tesla or any car company per se.

But down to self driving I am against Tesla poor choice of words in the self driving marketing.

OK so here it is another documented case this week March 2026
I just don’t understand why the person who was in the car allowed the Tesla to do this. Was he trying to prove a point or was he caught off guard? He’s supposed to be in control of the car even in self driving mode. Am I correct on that? Yes

Anyway, he documented his Tesla in self driving mode, driving right through the railroad crossing gate in California. Literally right through the gate.

“Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ drives through railroad crossing barriers in viral video”
https://electrek.co/2026/03/09/tesla-fsd-drives-through-railroad-crossing-barriers-viral-video/

It’s all over the media
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/tesla-fsd-makes-terrifying-mistake-in-viral-video

..

 

[IndyIan]

As a manufacturer, Tesla has a very high death rate. I guess its unresponsible drivers that believe the car can be trusted to drive itself without their oversight is most of the cause of that?

 

[97prizm]

OK, I am going to cut Tesla break here because I’m not against Tesla or any car company per se.

But down to self driving I am against Tesla poor choice of words in the self driving marketing.

OK so here it is another documented case this week March 2026
I just don’t understand why the person who was in the car allowed the Tesla to do this. Was he trying to prove a point or was he caught off guard? He’s supposed to be in control of the car even in self driving mode. Am I correct on that? Yes

Anyway, he documented his Tesla in self driving mode, driving right through the railroad crossing gate in California. Literally right through the gate.

“Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ drives through railroad crossing barriers in viral video”
https://electrek.co/2026/03/09/tesla-fsd-drives-through-railroad-crossing-barriers-viral-video/

It’s all over the media
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/tesla-fsd-makes-terrifying-mistake-in-viral-video

..

He was letting it "drive " for him. It just couldn't figure out that crossing gates were down like ALOT of Teslas do. He tried to intervene but it had already ran through the gates.

 

[Pablo]

I think sometimes the Tesla may be the first high torque car some folks have owned

 

[alarmguy]

He was letting it "drive " for him. It just couldn't figure out that crossing gates were down like ALOT of Teslas do. He tried to intervene but it had already ran through the gates.

Yeah, I know he was letting it drive but he saw the gates and could have stepped on the brake I would think. ANYWAY, TESLA WOULD SAY he is supposed to supervise self driving... but I get what you are saying. It's just that you would think, you see the gates and the car isnt stopping you would hit the brake.

Then again, if you use self driving a lot, who would think it wouldnt stop for the gates, right?

 

[CleanSump]

Failed to control his vehicle. The brake pedal is under his foot.

 

[JohnnyG]

Yep, typical.

 

[demarpaint]

"Full Self Driving," not ready for prime time. Or maybe it's prime time for a name change.

 

[Torrid]

OK, I am going to cut Tesla break here because I’m not against Tesla or any car company per se.

But down to self driving I am against Tesla poor choice of words in the self driving marketing.

OK so here it is another documented case this week March 2026
I just don’t understand why the person who was in the car allowed the Tesla to do this. Was he trying to prove a point or was he caught off guard? He’s supposed to be in control of the car even in self driving mode. Am I correct on that? Yes

Anyway, he documented his Tesla in self driving mode, driving right through the railroad crossing gate in California. Literally right through the gate.

“Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ drives through railroad crossing barriers in viral video”
https://electrek.co/2026/03/09/tesla-fsd-drives-through-railroad-crossing-barriers-viral-video/

It’s all over the media
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/tesla-fsd-makes-terrifying-mistake-in-viral-video

..

I just don't understand not interrupting FSD. That's one thing many pro FSD people yelled at me for. If anything seemed slightly questionable, I just stopped it. I'm not about to wait for it to really screw up just to prove a point. I don't have that kind of patience when it could result in damage or injury.

As a manufacturer, Tesla has a very high death rate. I guess its unresponsible drivers that believe the car can be trusted to drive itself without their oversight is most of the cause of that?

There's many possible reasons. I've always thought the high fatality rate was due to people driving way too fast with this much power with no concept of car control. It seems like a number of Tesla accidents are extremely high speed and well beyond what FSD will do.

 

[Torrid]

"Full Self Driving," not ready for prime time. Or maybe it's prime time for a name change.

While this is what everyone refers to it as, there is no reference to Full Self Driving anywhere in the car. At all. None. The closest it gets is the button on the screen says "Start Self Driving", otherwise no reference to Full Self Driving or FSD is mentioned anywhere.

 

[demarpaint]

While this is what everyone refers to it as, there is no reference to Full Self Driving anywhere in the car. At all. None. The closest it gets is the button on the screen says "Start Self Driving", otherwise no reference to Full Self Driving or FSD is mentioned anywhere.

It might be prime time to change the name of "Self Driving" to something else then. I can't think of anything catchy at the moment, I need something better than "Mandatory Human Assisted Self Driving." It's too wordy, but it does drive the point home.

 

[Hohn]

As a manufacturer, Tesla has a very high death rate. I guess its unresponsible drivers that believe the car can be trusted to drive itself without their oversight is most of the cause of that?

It's hard to account for the driver.

Buicks might have very low death rates, but--if so-- that would probably because of the demographics of Buick drivers, who tend be elderly and very cautious.

 

[Pablo]

It might be prime time to change the name of "Self Driving" to something else then. I can't think of anything catchy at the moment, I need something better than "Mandatory Human Assisted Self Driving." It's too wordy, but it does drive the point home.

HLF-AssD.

Human Limited Foresight Assisted Driving

 

[gman2304]

Elons lawyers are on it…..

 

[Torrid]

It might be prime time to change the name of "Self Driving" to something else then. I can't think of anything catchy at the moment, I need something better than "Mandatory Human Assisted Self Driving." It's too wordy, but it does drive the point home.

I don't think it's right to call it that either. I'm not that big of a fan of FSD anyway. My wife used to for the same trip two months apart. The last time it did 5-8mph over and had no issues. It did 20mph+ over no matter what setting it was on this last time. It's far from consistent.

FSD is a complete disaster.

 

[97prizm]

Elons lawyers are on it…..

Funny you say that. Tesla has had two reprieves to hand over crash data from fsd, autopilot. The deadline was yesterday

 

[walterjay]

Oops..

 

[JeffKeryk]

My car verbally tells you you are approaching RR tracks. Clearly there was no warning her, but there was also no sound when the car hit the barrier gate.

 

[mk378]

As long as the car uses precise knowledge of the train schedule, is there any problem here? An AI driver would find it time-saving to crash the gates if it is sure that a train is not going to hit the car.

 

[02SE]

My car verbally tells you you are approaching RR tracks. Clearly there was no warning her, but there was also no sound when the car hit the barrier gate.

I'm tempted to drive my Plaid through a rail crossing gate, and record the sound as it breaks the gate, and damages the car.

Nah, too much trouble...