A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Houston, Texas has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the automaker after an incident she says placed both her and her infant child at serious risk.
The fully electric pickup was reportedly operating in Full Self Driving (FSD) mode at the time of the August 2025 incident. Video footage shows the vehicle nearly leaving an overpass along Houston’s 69 Eastex Freeway.
According to the footage, the Cybertruck was moments away from going over the edge of the overpass. Instead, it struck a lighting pole, which redirected the vehicle back onto the roadway.
Without that impact, it may have gone over the barrier, falling more than 30 feet and potentially colliding with traffic below. The crash was still severe, and the driver claims she sustained multiple injuries, prompting the lawsuit filed last month on grounds of liability and negligence.
“On August 18, 2025, our client Justine Saint Amour was driving her Tesla Cybertruck on Houston’s 69 Eastex Freeway with Autopilot engaged,” attorney Bob Hilliard told FOX Business. “Something terrifying happened, without warning, the vehicle attempted to drive straight off an overpass.”
Dashcam footage shows the vehicle traveling normally before approaching a Y-shaped overpass where it was expected to follow a right-hand curve. Instead, the Cybertruck continued forward, veering slightly right before colliding forcefully with a concrete barrier. Debris from the vehicle is visible scattering following the impact.
A central issue in the case is whether the driver was able to regain control. The plaintiff’s legal team claims she attempted to disengage the driver-assistance system just before the crash but was unable to intervene effectively. According to this argument, the system did not allow sufficient time or responsiveness for manual override once the vehicle began deviating from its intended path.
Tesla may contest this claim by arguing that the system had already disengaged prior to the collision, placing responsibility back on the driver. The outcome is likely to depend heavily on telemetry data, which should indicate whether FSD was active at the time of impact.
“She tried to take control, but crashed into the barrier and was seriously injured (mostly her shoulder, neck, and back),” lawyer Bob Hilliard said. Saint Amour also suffered two herniated discs in her lower back and one in the neck, as well as sprained tendons in her wrist and nerve damage to her right hand. The one-year-old child in the back seat was not injured, according to local outlet KHOU 11.
The lawsuit, filed in Harris County District Court, accuses Tesla of overstating the capabilities of its driver-assistance systems and alleges negligence in the design of its Autopilot feature. It further claims the company failed to implement more robust safety measures, including improved emergency braking systems or LiDAR-based sensing.
According to the plaintiff’s attorney, Tesla’s system “relies on cheap video cameras alone” and that the vehicle “lacks a proper driver alert system to ensure drivers are ready to take over driving.”
Tesla has not issued a response to this specific case. However, the company has recently faced regulatory pressure in California regarding how it markets its driver-assistance technologies.
The California DMV determined that terms such as Autopilot and Full Self-Driving could mislead consumers, constituting a violation of state law.
As a result, Tesla has revised its terminology in California, now referring to Full Self-Driving as “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” and Autopilot as “Traffic Aware Cruise Control” in marketing materials. Tesla has since filed a lawsuit challenging the ruling, arguing that regulators did not demonstrate actual consumer confusion.
