A man in a shopping-center parking lot started filming a white Tesla that was already moving. TikTok creator Himbibi Sends Love posted the footage, with text over the clip claiming the car nearly hit four other vehicles before he started recording. The video does not show those near misses.
The man says the Tesla “just took off from a parking spot with nobody in it.” He adds that it kept “stopping in the middle of the road” and blocking traffic. He warns other drivers, “You go around, you go. Be careful.”
“No one’s in there,” he says. “It’s just driving.” He says he had to move his own car out of the way. He then describes the Tesla as “just driving around the parking lot about to crash into people.” He adds, “Yo, you can’t make this up.”
How could a Tesla move without a driver?
The camera follows the car past parked vehicles, with a Starbucks storefront appearing in later shots. The windows are dark, but no one is visible inside the car. Near the end, the Tesla comes close to another car, but it does not collide. A similar scare involving a driverless cab turning into oncoming traffic shows how quickly these situations can become concerning.
The creator later clarified in the video’s title that the owners had parked the Tesla and gone into a store. According to his account, less than two minutes later, the car started “wigging out,” speeding up and stopping with no people or cars nearby. He said the owners “weren’t summoning it” and described the Tesla as “100% malfunctioning.”
Tesla does offer a feature that allows owners to move their cars remotely, which could explain why the vehicle in the video was moving without anyone behind the wheel. According to the company’s owner’s manual, Summon lets owners move their vehicles into or out of parking spaces using the Tesla app. Smart Summon can also steer a vehicle toward its owner or a selected destination while navigating around obstacles.
Tesla recommends that owners keep the vehicle in sight and monitor its movements while using these features. Availability varies by vehicle, region, setup and software. Owners have sometimes put their faith in Tesla’s tech and encountered problems. However, the creator says the owners were not using Summon, and the footage does not establish what caused the Tesla to move or confirm his claim that it malfunctioned.
Commenters had their own theories. One wrote, “It’s called Summons. You can call it to you in the parking lot.” Another joked, “It’s going to find its driver that’s how they do it.”
One commenter also questioned who would be responsible if the Tesla caused a crash: “What happens if it crashes into someone but there’s no driver? Does insurance pay for that?” The creator replied, “Good question.”
Liability would depend on the circumstances of a crash and the applicable insurance coverage. Tesla advises owners to monitor their vehicles while using Summon, though the creator says the owners were not using the feature.
Published: Oct 15, 2026 03:15 pm