Elon Musk's Crash Course
{{Short description|2022 documentary film}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox television
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| director = Emma Schwartz
| starring = Elon Musk
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| country = United States
| language = English
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| producer = Emma Schwartz
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| network = FX
| released = {{Start date|2022|05|20}}
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{{Elon Musk series}}
Elon Musk's Crash Course is a 2022 New York Times–FX documentary film directed and produced by Emma Schwartz with reporting by Cade Metz and Neal Boudette. The documentary explores the promises made by Tesla's CEO Elon Musk in regards to self-driving cars and contrasts that with the fatal accidents that have occurred using the technology.{{cite news |title='Elon Musk's Crash Course' explores the limits of Tesla's 'self-driving' technology |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/20/entertainment/elon-musk-crash-course-review/index.html |work=CNN |access-date=May 22, 2022 |date=May 20, 2022 |first=Brian |last=Lowry}}
The documentary was released on May 20, 2022, as an edition of The New York Times Presents on FX and FX on Hulu.
Synopsis
Elon Musk's Crash Course explores the claims made by Musk about self-driving cars and their actual capabilities. The film includes multiple interviews, including former Tesla engineers who worked on the self-driving software which controls the cars. The film compares the concerns raised about the technology to the public statements made by Musk.{{cite news |title='Elon Musk's Crash Course' shows the tragic cost of his leadership technology |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/05/20/1100022168/elon-musks-crash-course-new-york-times-fx-hulu-twitter-tesla-self-driving-cars |work=NPR |access-date=May 22, 2022 |date=May 20, 2022 |first=Eric |last=Deggans}}
The film focuses on the 2016 death of Joshua Brown, a former U.S. Navy SEAL who is the first U.S. fatality while using Tesla's Autopilot.{{cite news |title='Elon Musk's Crash Course' Takes A Cursory Look At Engineering And Regulatory Failure |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2022/05/23/elon-musks-crash-coursetakes-a-cursory-look-at-engineering-and-regulatory-failure/ |work=Forbes |access-date=May 22, 2022 |date=May 23, 2022 |first=Sam |last=Abuelsamid}}{{Cite web |date=2017-10-03 |title=“A Tesla Crash, but Not Just a Tesla Crash”: NTSB Issues Final Report and Comments on Fatal Tesla Autopilot Crash |url=https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15339472/a-tesla-crash-but-not-just-a-tesla-crash-ntsb-issues-final-report-and-comments-on-fatal-tesla-autopilot-crash/ |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=Car and Driver |language=en-US}} Brown was considered an adamant fan of Tesla, having posted over two dozen videos about his Tesla and its Autopilot features.{{cite news |title=Joshua Brown, Who Died in Self-Driving Accident, Tested Limits of His Tesla |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/02/business/joshua-brown-technology-enthusiast-tested-the-limits-of-his-tesla.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=May 22, 2022 |date=July 1, 2016 |first1=Rachel |last1=Abrams |first2=Annalyn |last2=Kurtz}}{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Alice |date=July 1, 2016 |title=Tesla driver dies in first fatal autonomous car crash in US |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2095740-tesla-driver-dies-in-first-fatal-autonomous-car-crash-in-us/ |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}
The documentary also explores Tesla's safety features as it developed the self-driving technology, starting with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) investigation into the 38 accidents that occurred in 2016. The film also focuses on the death of Walter Huang in March 2018 when his Tesla hit a concrete wall at 70 mph, and Jeremy Banner, who was killed in March 2019 when his Tesla drove under a tractor-trailer. Robert Sumwalt, former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, makes the claim that Tesla has continued to ignore safety reform following these fatal accidents.{{cite news |title='Elon Musk's Crash Course': 3 key arguments from the Tesla documentary |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/05/20/elon-musk-tesla-crash-course/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=May 22, 2022 |date=May 20, 2022 |first=Ashley Fetters |last=Maloy}}
Persons featured
- Elon Musk
- Robert Sumwalt, former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board
- Bryan Thomas, former communications director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Joshua Brown, considered the first known fatality while using Tesla's Autopilot
Reception
Russ Mitchell of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film is "solidly reported and dead-accurate".{{cite news |title=Company insiders rip Tesla's stance on safety in hard-hitting Elon Musk doc |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-05-20/elon-musk-fx-crash-course-doc-takeaways |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=May 25, 2022 |date=May 20, 2022 |first=Russ |last=Mitchell}} The Guardian writes that the film does not break new ground, but rather comes across as "cogent synthesis and assemblage of ample archival material".{{cite news |title=What can we learn from a new documentary on Elon Musk? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/may/17/elon-musk-crash-course-documentary-tesla |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=May 25, 2022 |date=May 17, 2022 |first=Adrian |last=Horton}} Salon concludes that despite Musk's media presence and the high-profile accidents involving Autopilot, Teslas still retain their status as sought after automobiles.{{cite web |title="Elon Musk's Crash Course" warns of the danger of a billionaire's love of being unreasonable |url=https://www.salon.com/2022/05/20/elon-musks-crash-course-review-fx-hulu/ |website=Salon |access-date=May 25, 2022 |date=May 25, 2022 |first=Melanie |last=McFarland}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|tt19842956|Elon Musk's Crash Course}}
- [https://fxnow.fxnetworks.com/shows/the-new-york-times-presents/episode-guide/season-02/episode-01-elon-musks-crash-course/vdka28037452 S2E1Elon Musk’s Crash Course on Fx] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524043241/https://fxnow.fxnetworks.com/shows/the-new-york-times-presents/episode-guide/season-02/episode-01-elon-musks-crash-course/vdka28037452 |date=May 24, 2022 }}
- [https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/accidentreports/reports/har1702.pdf Official NTSB Highway Accident Report: Collision Between a Car Operating With Automated Vehicle Control Systems and a Tractor-Semitrailer Truck Near Williston, Florida May 7, 2016]
- [https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HAR2001.pdf Official NTSB Highway Accident Report: Collision Between a Sport Utility Vehicle Operating With Partial Driving Automation and a Crash Attenuator Mountain View, California March 23, 2018]
- [https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/HAB2001.pdf Official NTSB Highway Accident Brief: Collision Between Car Operating with Partial Driving Automation and Truck-Tractor Semitrailer Delray Beach, Florida, March 1, 2019]
{{Elon Musk}}
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Category:2022 documentary films
Category:2022 television films
Category:American documentary television films
Category:The New York Times films
Category:2020s English-language films