Tesla owner puts FSD to the ultimate test by simulating pedestrians in the street and it doesn't go great

A brave Tesla owner decided to take things into his own hands by running a real-world FSD test, complete with dummies, ‘slow down’ signs, and even his son (don’t worry, he kept a foot on the brake).

What started as a backyard science experiment quickly turned into a viral case study on what Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system can and cannot handle when faced with unpredictable pedestrians.

Over the course of 14 tests, the driver explored how Tesla’s latest Hardware 4 setup recognized obstacles, responded to visual cues, and handled last-minute surprises.

The verdict? Well, let’s just say it didn’t go quite as expected.

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There were mixed results with the various tests

EV enthusiast Kyle Paul shared the tests on his YouTube channel, using a mix of real-world signs, cones, pedestrians and a test dummy to push his Tesla to the limit.

In the first few tests, the results were… not great.

The car breezed past multiple bright yellow ‘slow down’ signs without so much as tapping the brakes.

Even when the sign was moved to the middle of the road or accompanied by a child-sized dummy, the FSD system kept cruising like it had somewhere more important to be.

While the display recognized the sign visually, it never actually slowed the car.

Things got more interesting when the dummy started moving.

In later tests, the Tesla’s Hardware 4 sensors successfully detected a human-shaped figure crossing the street roughly 75–85 feet ahead, slowing down or stopping completely in most cases.

However, when the dummy crossed closer (within 15 feet), leaving the system about a second to react, it was too late.

The EV ‘saw’ the obstacle, but failed to stop in time.

As the owner put it, “There’s just not enough time.”

Tesla recently released a major FSD update

In fairness, the Tesla owner made it clear that the company’s FSD remains a Level 2 system, meaning it still requires human oversight.

Tesla’s latest updates have reportedly reduced interventions by 30 percent and improved overall crash rates to just 26 per million miles, which is better than the national average.

The company also fared well in tests conducted in China, showing the potential of FSD-enabled vehicles.

With a major FSD update just released, things might get better.

Still, this test serves as a dramatic reminder: even the smartest autonomous tech has its limits when real-world chaos strikes.

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