Tesla confirms Autopilot/FSD was 'engaged' when car crossed a median and killed a man | Electrek  (index.html)                        (https://9to5mac-com.videoplayerhub.com/)  (https://cdn.parsely.com/)  (https://use.typekit.net/)  (Electrek » Feed) (https://electrek.co/feed/)  (Electrek » Comments Feed) (https://electrek.co/comments/feed/)  (Electrek » Tesla confirms Autopilot/FSD was ‘engaged’ when car crossed a median and killed a man Comments Feed) (https://electrek.co/2026/10/15/tesla-driver-assist-median-crossing-vineland/feed/)  (oEmbed (JSON)) (https://electrek.co/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Felectrek.co%2F2026%2F10%2F15%2Ftesla-driver-assist-median-crossing-vineland%2F)  (oEmbed (XML)) (https://electrek.co/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Felectrek.co%2F2026%2F10%2F15%2Ftesla-driver-assist-median-crossing-vineland%2F&format=xml)  (Electrek » Stories Feed) (https://electrek.co/web-stories/feed/) (../../../../wp-content/client-mu-plugins/9to5-core/dist/css/frontend.css@m=1790504548g.css)  (../../../../../use.typekit.net/rah1hlf.css@ver=0b81a7fbcce2a9085926.css)  (../../../../wp-content/themes/ninetofive/dist/css/critical.css@ver=0b81a7fbcce2a9085926.css)  (../../../../_static/index.html@%253F-eJzTLy%252FQTc7PK0nNK9EvyUjNTS3Wz8vMSy3JT8ssS9VPySwu0U8uLtZPKwKrSdEDcnT0idOTWqZblFqWmVpeDNJln2traG5paGlhZGJpBAB2ICtL.css)  (https://electrek.co/wp-json/)  (JSON) (https://electrek.co/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/488277)  (https://electrek.co/?p=488277)  (https://electrek.co/wp-content/themes/ninetofive/dist/svg/electrek-e.svg) (../../../../wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/03/electrek.png@w=32)  (../../../../wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/03/electrek.png@w=192)  (https://electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/03/electrek.png?w=180)   (../../../../wp-content/mu-plugins/jetpack-16.2/modules/infinite-scroll/infinity.css@m=1791916771g.css)       (index.html#main) Skip to main content (Toggle main menu)  Toggle main menu  (https://electrek.co/) Electrek Logo           Go to the Electrek home page    Switch site    (https://9to5mac.com/) 9to5Mac Logo    9to5Mac   (https://9to5google.com/) 9to5Google Logo    9to5Google   (https://9to5toys.com/)    9to5Toys   (https://dronedj.com) Drone DJ Logo            DroneDJ   (https://spaceexplored.com)        Space Explored   (https://electrek.co/about/) About  (https://9to5mac.com/privacy/) Privacy     (View 9to5 on YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcOIZzJgLCyMPILY7-1Vsdg)     (Follow us on Twitter) (https://www.twitter.com/electrekco)     (Like us on Facebook) (https://www.facebook.com/electrekco)     (Follow us on Instagram) (https://www.instagram.com/electrek.co/)      (Subscribe to our weekly podcast) (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/electrek/id1320055779)     (Follow Electrek) (https://electrek.co/follow-electrek/)       (View 9to5 on Apple News) (https://apple.news/TDaZAAzogTHK5rrJYn3D6eQ)           (View 9to5 on SmartNews) (https://b.smartnews.be/r/3p2BcxbJznlh4Xi4)      (Follow Electrek on Blueksy) (https://bsky.app/profile/electrek.co)     (View 9to5 on FlipBoard) (https://flipboard.com/@electrek)     (View 9to5 on LinkedIn) (https://www.linkedin.com/company/electrek)     (Signup for Safari Notifications) (https://electrek.co/push/)     (Follow Electrek on Signup for our email list) (https://electrek.beehiiv.com/subscribe)       (Toggle social menu)    Toggle social menu  (Submit a Tip/Contact Us) (https://electrek.co/contact-electrek/)       (Toggle dark mode)    Toggle dark mode  Search for:  () (Search …)  Submit           Toggle search form     (https://electrek.co/forums/) Electrek Forums  Autos (https://electrek.co/best-electric-vehicle-prices/) Electric Vehicle Price Guide – best prices for dealers in the US  (https://electrek.co/guides/tesla/) Tesla  (https://electrek.co/guides/ford/) Ford  (https://electrek.co/guides/gm/) GM  (https://electrek.co/guides/bmw/) BMW  (https://electrek.co/guides/jaguar/) Jaguar  (https://electrek.co/guides/vw/) VW  (https://electrek.co/guides/daimler/) Daimler/Mercedes  (https://electrek.co/guides/hyundai/) Hyundai  (https://electrek.co/guides/nissan/) Nissan  (https://electrek.co/guides/Toyota/) Toyota    Alt. 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The SUV’s driver, 68-year-old Phillip Eastman, was killed. Police reported it as a driver who lost control. What they didn’t say, and likely didn’t know, is that Tesla’s own report to federal regulators says the car’s driver-assist system was engaged. This is part of an (https://electrek.co/2026/09/01/tesla-autopilot-fsd-crashes-hidden-data/) ongoing Electrek investigation matching reported crashes to Tesla’s redacted NHTSA data.  What happened on Route 55 Around 8:31 a.m. on Saturday, August 22, 2026, a Tesla was heading south on Route 55 in Vineland, in Cumberland County, near milepost 34.6. The driver lost control, ran off the left side of the road, crossed the grass median, struck a tree, and continued into the northbound lanes, where the car hit a northbound Chevrolet SUV, according to the New Jersey State Police. The SUV’s driver, Phillip “Phil” Eastman, 68, of Springfield, Pennsylvania , was killed. The Tesla’s driver and a passenger in the Chevrolet were hurt and taken to a hospital with moderate injuries. Advertisement - scroll for more content  Eastman had just been sworn in as a Springfield School District board member, and he spent nearly three decades coaching youth and high school ice hockey, including 17 years as the varsity head coach at Springfield High. His death was widely covered in the Philadelphia area. And in all of it, no report mentioned Autopilot, “Full Self-Driving,” or any driver-assist system. The crash was told as a driver who lost control of his car. What Tesla told the federal government Under a NHTSA Standing General Order, automakers must report crashes where a Level 2 driver-assist system was engaged within 30 seconds of impact and someone is killed. Tesla filed a report on this crash. In it, Tesla identifies the car as a 2021 Model Y and marks the automation “Engagement Status” as “Verified Engaged” — meaning Tesla confirmed through its own telematics that Autopilot or “Full Self-Driving” was active. It lists the New Jersey State Police as the investigating agency, and says it learned of the crash from the media. Then it redacts the fields that would explain what the car did: the crash narrative, the software version, and whether the road was within the system’s approved operating area. All blacked out as “confidential business information,” the (https://electrek.co/2025/06/05/tesla-admits-suffer-financial-harm-if-self-driving-crash-data-becomes-public/) same redactions Tesla applies to 99.9% of its reports . ()   What the data doesn’t settle We want to be precise about what this does and doesn’t prove. “Engaged within 30 seconds of impact” is the reporting trigger, not proof the system was steering when the car crossed the median. The driver may have been overriding it. And Tesla redacted the software version, so there’s no telling whether this was basic Autopilot or FSD. Two more gaps are worth flagging. Tesla logs a pre-crash speed of just 37 mph, low for a freeway, which is more likely a single telematics snapshot from the pre-crash window than the speed at which the car left the road. And on this report Tesla checks only that it holds the car’s telematics, not the event-data recorder or video, so there may be less onboard evidence here than in other cases. What is not in doubt is the one fact the public never got: a driver-assist system was on in a car that crossed a highway median and killed a man. Everything that would explain how is sealed. Why we keep doing this This is the pattern the investigation keeps surfacing, and it’s why the redaction matters. Tesla is, more than ever, pushing owners to treat a Level 2 driver-assistance system as if it drives itself. It sells the software as “Full Self-Driving,” Elon Musk keeps promising unsupervised autonomy is close, and the branding invites drivers to trust the car. But it is still Level 2. The human is driving and responsible at all times, and Tesla’s own actions confirm it: consumer FSD still requires supervision, and its robotaxi service is a small, closely watched fleet. At the moment Tesla is telling owners to trust the car, it hides the records that would show how the system behaves when things go wrong, and a man coaching kids’ hockey one season is a name in a sealed federal file the next. How we matched it, and why it’s notable: Electrek flagged this crash weeks ago, from the news, as a fatal Tesla wreck that had no corresponding entry in the federal data, and no public mention of driver-assist. The latest NHTSA release added it, flagged as a fatality with the system verified engaged. The record is unredacted on location (Vineland), state, vehicle (2021 Model Y), the fatality, and the month, and the incident time Tesla logged, 12:29 UTC, converts to about 8:29 a.m. local, within two minutes of the 8:31 a.m. police reported. It’s the same crash. Electrek has reached out to the New Jersey State Police for the crash report and the vehicle data, and asked whether investigators received Tesla’s raw telemetry or only Tesla’s own interpretation of it. Electrek’s Take Top comment by (index.html#comments) BlueButton        Liked by 9 people  Biggest risk to FSD will be the huge settlements coming down the pike. Using the public as alpha test subjects will make Ford Pinto settlements look small.  " Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should."    (index.html#comments) View all comments  Strip the redaction away and this is a Tesla, running its driver-assist software, that crossed a median and killed a school board member in the oncoming lane. Leave it in place, as Tesla did, and it’s a driver who “lost control.” Those are very different stories, and the public got the one that leaves Tesla out of it. We’re careful here. The system being on doesn’t prove it caused the crash, the driver may have been overriding it, and we don’t even know if it was Autopilot or FSD. That is exactly the problem. Tesla knows all of it. It has the telematics, it filed the report confirming the system was engaged, and it decided that what its car did in a fatal crash is a trade secret, down to which software was running. Phillip Eastman’s family, and the troopers still investigating, deserve the full account, not a redacted one. Tesla is already (https://electrek.co/2025/08/21/tesla-nhtsa-probe-not-properly-reporting-crashes-involving-autopilot-fsd/) under NHTSA investigation over how it reports these crashes. We’ll keep matching them, one by one, until the record is whole. If you’re driving a Tesla, powering it with home solar is one of the cheapest ways to cut your fuel costs to almost nothing. With electricity rates up almost 10% last year and expected to keep climbing, going solar is one of the best ways to protect yourself against rising costs. And with lease and PPA options, you can do it with zero upfront cost and start saving immediately. If you want to find the best deal, check out (http://www.energysage.com/p/electrek/) EnergySage . It’s a free service with hundreds of pre-vetted installers competing for your business, so you save 20 to 30% compared to going it alone. No sales calls until you pick an installer. (http://www.energysage.com/p/electrek/) Get your free quotes here .  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You’re reading Electrek— experts who break news about (https://electrek.co/guides/tesla/) Tesla , (https://electrek.co/best-electric-vehicle-prices/) electric vehicles, and (https://electrek.co/guides/egeb/) green energy , day after day. Be sure to check out our (https://electrek.co/) homepage for all the latest news, and follow Electrek on (http://twitter.com/electrekco) Twitter , (https://www.facebook.com/electrekco/) Facebook , and (https://www.linkedin.com/company/electrek) LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our (https://youtube.com/c/electrekco) YouTube channel for the latest reviews.   Featured  from Electrek Electrek Logo             ()    (index.html) Tesla confirms Autopilot/FSD was ‘engaged’ when car crossed a median and killed a man  (https://electrek.co/author/fredericclambert/) (Avatar for Fred Lambert)   (https://electrek.co/author/fredericclambert/) Fred Lambert  Oct 15 2026     (top cop electric bike police)    (https://electrek.co/2026/10/15/how-federal-money-is-pushing-cops-towards-e-bikes/) How federal money is pushing cops towards e-bikes  (https://electrek.co/author/micahltoll/) (Avatar for Micah Toll)   (https://electrek.co/author/micahltoll/) Micah Toll  Oct 15 2026     (Rivian Q4 earnings)    (https://electrek.co/2026/10/15/tesla-cybercab-assembly-lead-leaves-rivian-r2/) Tesla loses Cybercab assembly lead to Rivian R2 weeks after launch  (https://electrek.co/author/fredericclambert/) (Avatar for Fred Lambert)   (https://electrek.co/author/fredericclambert/) Fred Lambert  Oct 15 2026     (Slate Auto Experience Center in Chicago, IL)    (https://electrek.co/2026/10/15/slate-opens-first-ever-test-drive-and-experience-center-in-chicago/) Slate Auto opens first ever test drive and experience center in Chicago  (https://electrek.co/author/joborras/) (Avatar for Jo Borrás)   (https://electrek.co/author/joborras/) Jo Borrás  Oct 15 2026         Podcast       (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcOIZzJgLCyMPILY7-1Vsdg?sub_confirmation=1) Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the (https://www.electrek.co/guides/electrek-podcast) podcast . (Recent Videos)     Comments      Expand Close comments       Expand Close comments    Guides  (https://electrek.co/guides/tesla/) (Tesla)   Tesla Tesla is a transportation and energy company. It…    (https://electrek.co/guides/tesla-autopilot/) (Tesla Autopilot)   Tesla Autopilot The Autopilot is Tesla's advanced assisted drivi…     (https://electrek.co/guides/tesla-full-self-driving/) (View all posts in Tesla Full self-Driving) Tesla Full self-Driving   Author  (https://electrek.co/author/fredericclambert/) (Avatar for Fred Lambert)   (https://electrek.co/author/fredericclambert/) Fred Lambert  (https://twitter.com/intent/follow?screen_name=fredlambert&original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Felectrek.co)  fredlambert  Fred is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at Electrek. You can send tips on Twitter (DMs open) or via email: fred@9to5mac.com Through Zalkon.com, you can check out Fred’s portfolio and get monthly green stock investment ideas.   Fred Lambert's favorite gear  (https://combat-edge.com/) (Combat Edge)   Combat Edge Get an edge on MMA with the best stats     (https://t.sidekickopen60.com/s3t/c/5/f18dQhb0S7lM8dDTcYW39qybq2B9nMJN7t5XWPf2rmRN2zGJX-d0CtCW16gGF83Nsx19101?te=W3R5hFj4cm2zwW4mKLS-3K76ZWW3P8Rqf3P0nTBW43T4P41LwW69w3FdyYJ48Q2&si=8000000022370865&pi=dfd7d7ac-3258-402e-83c9-a1b222d32f21) (EnergySage)   EnergySage EnergySage helps you get the best price possible on a home solar installation for free and without hassel.