Driver Justine Saint Amour was traveling on highway in Houston metro area, Texas, when her Tesla Cybertruck, which was on self-driving mode, crashed into a concrete barrier on August 18, 2025.
Dashcam footage from the vehicle shows the moment it slammed into a barrier along the overpass.
According to attorney Bob Hilliard, Saint Amour “was driving her Tesla Cybertruck on Houston’s 69 Eastex Freeway with autopilot engaged. Something terrifying happened, without warning, the vehicle attempted to drive straight off an overpass. She tried to take control, but crashed into the barrier and was seriously injured (mostly her shoulder, neck, and back).”
A court filling dated from February 2026 and provided to Storyful criticized Tesla’s marketing.
According to Hilliard, the company charges a premium fee for Full Self-Driving (FSD), “but their technology is only SAE Level 2, meaning the driver must constantly monitor the vehicle and be ready to take over at any moment. That’s not self-driving.”
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy said in 2021 that Tesla’s marketing was “misleading and irresponsible.”
Her comment came about a month after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that a version of the FSD was “actually not great.”
Hilliard also pointed out that the Cybertruck lacked “a proper driver alert system to ensure drivers are ready to take over driving, and lacks effective automatic emergency braking (AEB) which is programmed to override the AI self-driving to stop or slow the vehicle if the AI freezes or lags.”
According to Hilliard, “Tesla also used non-disclosure agreements to silence drivers about FSD failures — a practice NHTSA flagged as obstructing safety investigations.” Credit: Hilliard Law via Storyful
