Does a viral social media video show a Ford electric car malfunctioning, with its steering locked and accelerator to the floor? No, that's not true: Lead Stories used geolocation techniques to find the scene of the accident and obtain a police report that a malfunction did not cause the wreck. California Highway Patrol said the driver was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants. The person who posted the claim is not the person who witnessed and filmed the crash.
The claims originated in an August 14, 2025 X.com post that attracted 7 million views in a day on the HustleBitch_ account. The post was titled: "???? ELECTRIC FORD MALFUNCTION". It continued:
STEERING LOCKED, GAS FLOORED ON FREEWAY Driver seen praying as the car goes out of control before smashing into another vehicle.
Here's what the post, one of several versions on social media, looked like at the time this fact check was written:
(Image source: Screenshot by Lead Stories of post at x.com/HustleBitch_.)
The video provided no links, documents, witnesses or other evidence to corroborate the claim that it was a malfunctioning electric car. The version we are fact checking was posted by an account that specializes in building user traffic with exciting content. But the video was posted on TikTok several hours earlier by another user, (archived here) who claimed he filmed it on his drive to work. That TikTok post did not claim the car was malfunctioning nor that the driver was praying. The poster merely wrote: "Today on the way to my job in San Carlos."
Reading highway signs in the background and looking at landmarks, Lead Stories located the scene of the crash shown in the video: U.S. 101 in San Carlos, California, near two major intersections.
We contacted California Highway Patrol, who confirmed the crash at that location and then released a statement (archived here) about the claims that it was caused by a malfunctioning vehicle out of the control of the driver:
Through our investigation, we determined the vehicle was not operating in autonomous mode and CHP officers arrested the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence, resulting in injuries to another.
While we understand public interest in such incidents, video clips may not capture the complete context or investigative process.
Here's an image of the full statement:
(Image source: Screenshot by Lead Stories of California Highway Patrol press release.)
While a DUI arrest is not proof-certain the car was operating without malfunction, police filing charges are required to submit evidence, while a social media post can say anything the user wishes to say.
Lead Stories has requested access to the full investigative file and will update this fact check, as relevant, with any intoximeter or other hard evidence available from the file.
