Tesla Cybertruck Incident: Owner's Finger Injury Raises Safety Alarms

In a risky demonstration gone wrong, a Cybertruck owner's attempt to prove its safety features backfired, resulting in a finger injury and stirring debates about the vehicle's design and safety algorithms.

Unexpected Consequences

What happens if you poke your finger inside the shutting trunk—or, in this case, the "frunk"—of a Tesla Cybertruck? Far too many Cybertruck owners ask themselves this question these days. A new video on YouTube shows the most gruesome answer to date.

The video, released on Sunday by YouTube user Joe Fay, states that fans thought he was cheating in a previous video by not simply closing the frunk properly.

“In my last video everybody kept saying that when the Tesla Cybertruck was coming down on my finger that I pushed up to make it open up and sense my finger but that’s just not true,” Fay explained.

“And to prove that wrong I’m going to put my finger completely flat against the Cybertruck this time. I’m not going to hover it. I’ll put it completely flat and see if it crushes my finger because everybody is asking,” Fay continued.

Surprisingly, the clip maker initially tries it with a stick, which soon breaks in half.

“But first I’m going to test it out with this stick. This is exactly what I’m going to do with my finger. I’m going to put it right there and hopefully my finger doesn’t break like that but let’s find out,” Fay said.

Amazingly, YouTuber Jeremy Judkins, who attempted this in a previous viral video and had the frunk close forcefully on his finger, told Business Insider that an engineer at Tesla told him he was doing it incorrectly.

Safety Concerns Amplified

Apparently, rather than perceiving your tapping on the car as a cry for aid as it crushes your bones, the Cybertruck believes you want the door to close harder.

According to Judkins, a key cybertruck engineer at Tesla admitted to completing the video incorrectly following the finger test.

The expert informed him that the frunk increases pressure every time it closes and detects resistance, Judkins claimed. It will presume you want to close the trunk and that something, such as a bag, is in the way, making it more difficult to close.

“Using this information, that means it closed on my finger harder than my hand and way harder than my arm,” the YouTuber penned.

Judkins attempted a fresh experiment with a bag, but it still closed horribly.

Judkins believes the algorithm should prioritize safety over a bag getting in the way. However, even when Judkins placed a bag in the path of shutting the frunk, it still closed, indicating that it did not respond to resistance as expected.

Photo: Phillip Pessar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons