Elon Musk Tells Tesla Owners To Text And Drive, What’s That Worst That Could Occur

With the launch of its own driverless taxi service earlier this yr, Tesla made it abundantly clear that it should relentlessly pursue and promise its corporate Holy Grail: a really autonomous vehicle. CEO Elon Musk took to X, the social media app he owns, on Thursday to state that Tesla owners will give you the chance to text and drive with the most recent update to “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software. It should go without saying that it’s illegal to text and drive in all but one U.S. state, irrespective of what form of automotive you are driving or what automated driving technology it has. Just like the villains in an Indiana Jones movie, Tesla seemingly doesn’t care in regards to the potential consequences so long as the automaker nears its obscene goal.

FSD Version 14 was released earlier this month and introduced an ambitious raft of upgrades, including an improved handling of irregular driving scenarios. Those situations include pulling over for emergency vehicles, offsetting for debris on the road and human gestures. During its development, Musk touted the v14 update as its most important since v12 and made Tesla vehicles feel sentient. Nothing out of the strange for the guy who desires to colonize Mars together with his offspring.

Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 4, 2025

Nevertheless, things headed into the legally questionable territory when an owner with FSD v14 posted on X that they didn’t receive a warning when their phone behind the wheel. The user openly asked if they may text and drive. Musk replied, “Depending on context of surrounding traffic, yes.” The reply ought to be no whatever the software’s functionality. Any reputable lawyer would tell the CEO of an automaker to say no.

Even assuming that Tesla’s FSD driver-assistance software could safely navigate without an attentive operator, which it might’t since it’s just an eyes-on Level 2 system, it’s still legal to text and drive. Despite Musk’s ties to the White House, I highly doubt that the Trump administration would pressure the states to alter their laws to actively make their roads more dangerous. Montana is the one state within the union and not using a statewide law prohibiting the damaging practice. Nevertheless, there are many counties and municipalities across Big Sky County with local laws banning texting and driving.

Tesla’s supposedly autonomous software has already been linked to several fatal crashes. After the lack of life, the incidents have proven costly for the electrical automaker. A Florida jury in a federal court ordered Tesla to pay $242.6 million for a 2019 crash where an Autopilot-equipped Model S struck a Chevy Tahoe parked on a shoulder. The collision killed a lady and seriously injured her boyfriend. They were standing outside the SUV. Tesla has rejected a $60 million settlement, took the case to trial and paid a steep price.