When you buy a vehicle with “Full Self-Driving,” you expect it to be smarter than the average driver. But for Joshua, a Cybertruck owner from North Carolina, what happened on a quiet road in Hope Mills left him asking a disturbing question: does Tesla FSD even see small animals?
Joshua was cruising down the road with his Cybertruck in Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode when something unexpected happened — a chicken ran across the road. Unfortunately, FSD didn’t recognize it.
The truck ran over the chicken, and worse, it showed no reaction at all. No warning, no slowdown, nothing. Just business as usual, like the bird never existed.
What Happened, According to Joshua
He shared the experience on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum:
“Hit a chicken on the road while on FSD. The truck did not flinch or react at all.
Was the animal just too small? Did the incident happen too fast for the truck to react?”
He also posted video footage from the front-facing camera, and it’s pretty clear — the reddish-gold chicken darted into the lane, attempted to leap, and was struck. FSD kept moving. And that’s what shook him the most.
Should FSD Have Reacted?
That’s the big question. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software has come a long way in recent years, but it’s still not perfect — especially when it comes to “corner cases” like small animals, falling debris, or fast-moving objects at odd angles.
Joshua’s theory? The chicken was just too small to register.
It’s not a wild assumption. Even other Tesla owners have reported the system failing to recognize small objects, including:
- Small dogs
- Raccoons
- Even deer in certain lighting conditions
This raises a more serious concern: If FSD can miss a chicken, could it miss a crawling child?
What the Cybertruck Community Is Saying
The responses to Joshua’s post have been… mixed.
Some joked:
- “Why, oh why, did that chicken cross the road?”
- “The chicken wasn’t trying to cross the road — it was playing chicken with FSD. FSD won.”
- “Did you order extra crispy or grilled?”
Others, however, shared valid concerns:
“Cybertruck FSD regrettably does not care about anything smaller than a motorcycle.”
“This is exactly the kind of situation I worry about. What if it was someone’s small dog?”
“Even large deer don’t always trigger a reaction — I wouldn’t count on FSD for animal awareness yet.”
What Does This Mean for Tesla FSD?
It’s not news that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is still in beta and improving. But with unsupervised FSD supposedly on the horizon, incidents like this raise serious ethical and safety concerns.
- Object recognition: How well can FSD identify small, fast, or unusual objects?
- Behavior logic: Does FSD weigh the risk of evasive maneuvers vs. continuing forward?
- Transparency: How does Tesla plan to inform users of these limitations?
If it can’t respond to something as basic as a chicken, then trusting it in complex environments becomes more difficult.
So, Who’s to Blame — The Chicken or the Software?
This story sparked three kinds of reactions from Cybertruck owners:
- Blame the chicken — “It ran into the road. Not FSD’s fault.”
- Make jokes — “Chicken had a death wish.”
- Raise safety alarms — “This could’ve been a dog… or worse.”
Joshua, to his credit, isn’t overreacting — he’s not saying the software is broken, just that this raises important questions. Questions that will matter more and more as Tesla pushes toward full autonomy.
What Do You Think?
Have you experienced FSD ignoring animals or small road hazards? Would you trust it completely around pets or kids? And should Tesla be doing more to address how their system responds in these “corner case” situations?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Your voice could help guide other Cybertruck owners or even inform Tesla updates.