Did autonomous driving cause this crash? #shorts
1,815A video showing the bizarre crash of an all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-e, posted on TikTok on Thursday, August 14, 2025, quickly generated a lot of reaction. Like any viral video, it went viral, reaching 775,000 views on the profile of the person who filmed and shared the scene, not to mention over 70,000 likes and 3,500 comments.
The video was also widely reshared and commented on, with a lot of misinformation in the process. Shares of footage of this accident mentioned malfunctions in the Ford Mustang Mach-E, or that its autonomous driving had become uncontrollable. Self-proclaimed experts thus spread fear... for nothing. As in a recent video about a BYD, the problem lies neither with autonomous driving nor with a problem with the car, but rather with the human behind the wheel.
The footage of the crash is quite impressive. Fortunately, the damage was mainly material, but the causes of the accident are puzzling. To rationalize the vehicle's strange behavior, several hypotheses were quickly put forward: locked steering (the Ford Mustang Mach-E does not have "steer by wire"), ineffective "brake by wire" braking (without a physical connection), faulty autonomous driving...
However, there is something strange in the scene filmed by this driver, which should have caught the attention of viewers. When the vehicle climbs up to the Ford's passenger compartment, the driver can be seen, his left hand raised to the sky as if in prayer, the other firmly gripping the steering wheel from below. Some say the driver is panicking, but nothing in his gestures (other than the act of praying) suggests this. Given the popularity of the video on social media, the police who responded to the accident issued a statement: "Our investigation determined that the vehicle was not operating in autonomous mode, and CHP officers arrested the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence."
The investigation is still ongoing to further investigate, but the driver was clearly not in a normal state at the time of his arrest. This could explain the driver's strange behavior in the video. Ford has not yet commented on the incident.