Tesla data confirms driver-assist was on in fatal NJ stop-sign crash
In a July 2025 crash in Buena Vista Township, New Jersey, a Tesla Model 3 ran a stop sign and struck a Honda Civic turning left, killing the Civic's 82-year-old driver — Tesla's own data has now confirmed the driver-assist system was engaged at the time, though it remains unclear whether it was Autopilot or FSD, or whether it played a role in the crash.
Electrek cross-referenced Tesla's crash data against local police records to surface another confirmed driver-assist engagement — this time from a crash on Sunday, July 6, 2025, around 6:57 p.m., at the intersection of County Route 671 and Chestnut Avenue in Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey.
A Tesla Model 3 ran a stop sign and struck a Honda Civic that was turning left through the intersection. The Civic's driver, 82-year-old Stephen Field, was killed; the Tesla's driver and three passengers were taken to the hospital with moderate injuries.
Police statements at the time made no mention of a driver-assist system. But Electrek matched the crash to Tesla's own NHTSA-reported data, finding the logged incident time (10:54 p.m. UTC, or 6:54 p.m. local) fell within three minutes of the police-reported time — confirming it as the same crash, with the driver-assist system logged as engaged.
What remains unconfirmed is which system was active — Autopilot or FSD — and whether it contributed to the crash. This is the third such confirmed-engagement case to surface in the past month, after crashes in Clute, Texas (Aug. 31) and Batavia, Illinois (Sept. 1) — adding to scrutiny over how much safety data Tesla discloses, just as NHTSA runs a formal audit of Cybercab.
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