Mark Rober just set up one of the most interesting self-driving tests of 2025, and he did it by imitating Looney Tunes. The former NASA engineer and current YouTube mad scientist recreated the classic gag where Wile E. Coyote paints a tunnel onto a wall to fool the Road Runner.

Only this time, the test subject wasn’t a cartoon bird… it was a self-driving Tesla Model Y.

The result? A full-speed, 40 MPH impact straight into the wall. Watch the video and tell us what you think!

  • RambaZamba@feddit.org
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    11 hours ago

    Things that happen when you rely exclusively on optical sensors, i.e. cameras. But that’s just cheaper, more money for Nazi Elon.

  • Yoga@lemmy.ca
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    14 hours ago

    Insurance fraud is going to bankrupt Tesla robotaxis faster than an incompetent CEO ever could.

    There will be too many ways to defeat the cameras and not having LiDAR unlike the rest of the industry may prove to be found to be a failure of duty of care.

    • KayLeadfoot@fedia.ioOP
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      13 hours ago

      It’s dirt cheap, too. If this was a cost-cutting measure, it was a thoroughly idiotic one. Which feels like the mark… of a certain someone I can think of

  • Naevermix@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Make Elon test ride the first Tesla robotaxi and there’s a chance the funniest thing of all time will happen.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    I am very glad that Elon and Trump have overreached and now Tesla is suffering. I hope Starlink is the next domino to fall.

  • Grizzlyboy@lemm.ee
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    18 hours ago

    I had a conversation with a friend who claimed the road and sign system we have in our country, has errors in it causing her brand new car to act weird.

    By acting weird she meant, phantom breaking. Breaking when the car thinks the car driving the opposite direction is coming head on. Sudden and small jerks inside the lane. Not following the speed limit.

    She thought and probably still thinks the road system and not the car, is at fault. It’s a Skoda fyi. These assistants ruin driving. I’m hesitant to catch a ride with her again.

  • FauxPseudo @lemmy.world
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    18 hours ago

    New stuff to add to the car kit bag for the 21st century

    1. poster board to block usonic weapons
    2. black paint, white paint, roller, brush to paint tunnels on walls
    3. orange cones to pen in self driving cars
  • Magnus@lemmy.brandyapple.com
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    18 hours ago

    I remember Elon foolishly saying his cars don’t need radar or lidar. Even software-disabling radar in cars that already had the hardware.

    • gmtom@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Not even just his cars, he thinks the MILITARY, doesn’t need radar and can just use cameras to spot and track stealth fighters.

      He’s a fucking lunatic.

  • Jyek@sh.itjust.works
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    19 hours ago

    Is this video being suppressed by the YouTube algorithm? I wonder if it’s because of Tesla or Disney. Or maybe it’s because of simulated child harm?

  • Billybob22@feddit.uk
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    19 hours ago

    Don’t want to rock the boat but apart from being a you tube money earner this doesn’t prove or disprove anything. A lot of humans would be fooled by this also.

    I am suspicious of the way the polystyrene wall broke in cartoon like shagged edges, almost like they were precut.

    • EpeeGnome@lemm.ee
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      19 hours ago

      It may not rise to the level of proof, but it is a memorable and easily understood demonstration of something already proven by car safety researchers, as mentioned in the article.

      Why shouldn’t they precut the wall into cartoony shapes? It adds entertainment and doesn’t compromise the demonstration.

        • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          They were expecting this result to be possible. What were they supposed to do? Slam the car into the side if a building?

      • Billybob22@feddit.uk
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        19 hours ago

        Yes but the main point that has been shown is that putting a screen up with the exact copy of the road and surroundings behind the screen is a daft and dangerous idea. It would be a better test if they had put up a polystyrene tree in the middle of the road and then checked if the car stopped.

        I have never driven through a polystyrene wall with a picture of a road on it in 40 years because people just don’t put those things up, they don’t grow on roads etc etc.

        Great YT clip for entertainment though.

  • EaterOfLentils@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    Apparently they keep getting tickets in China because they didn’t bother to adjust the settings to accommodate Chinese roads and traffic laws. Result is Tesla is getting utterly crushed by BYD in their one major market that doesn’t care about Elon’s antics.

    • accideath@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      Huh, now I’m mildly interested in the differences in traffic laws in China vs US vs Europe that lead to Teslas getting more tickets in China than elsewhere.

      • elephantium@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        I found this article. My takeaways were:

        1. No driving in bus lanes during certain times of day.
        2. No using the shoulder as a turn lane.
        3. No using a bike lane as a turn lane.
            • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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              7 hours ago

              I think their regs, while seemingly very basic rules of the road, are based because I live in the US and we have bike lanes here that just whole ass turn into turn lanes with almost no warning. I wish we could get basic decency for everyone on the road, too.

  • fubarx@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    There’s a very simple solution to autonomous driving vehicles plowing into walls, cars, or people:

    Congress will pass a law that makes NOBODY liable – as long as a human wasn’t involved in the decision making process during the incident.

    This will be backed by car makers, software providers, and insurance companies, who will lobby hard for it. After all, no SINGLE person or company made the decision to swerve into oncoming traffic. Surely they can’t be held liable. 🤷🏻‍♂️

    Once that happens, Level 4 driving will come standard and likely be the default mode on most cars. Best of luck everyone else!

    • NicoleFromToronto@lemmy.ca
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      20 hours ago

      These same laws will be grandfathered in for ai. This way your health insurance companies computer can murder you by denying care and nobody can be held civilly or criminally liable.

      • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
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        20 hours ago

        I’ve said for a while that you could shut down an entire city with just a few buddies and like $200 in drywall screws. Have each friend drive on a different highway (or in a different direction on each highway) and sprinkle drywall screws as they go. Not just like a single dump, but a good consistent scatter so the entire highway is a minefield and takes hours to properly sweep up.