{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0705","record_version":1,"title":"Tesla 2020 Model 3 stopped on Loop 202 freeway, Mesa, Arizona (2025-10-31)","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":55.1,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":15.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":3.0,"completeness":3.2,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: Gizmodo · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":3,"reports_independent":1,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: Gizmodo · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"b37cd220511a213cbee0fb5a08c060c16d4c478d58730be55dcfb68c08deaef3"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"unknown","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":"2025-10-31","date_disclosed":"2026-08-31","incident_class":"other","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"unknown","summary":"A 2020 Tesla Model 3 was stopped on the eastbound Loop 202 freeway in Mesa, Arizona, just after 3 a.m. on 31 October 2025, and Tesla's report marks its driver-assist system as verified engaged. A Ford F-350 pickup struck the car from behind and the driver died at the scene. Initial police-based coverage did not mention a Tesla or driver-assist. Electrek matched the crash to a redacted Tesla report filed with NHTSA under a Standing General Order. The reason the car stopped is not established by the sources. Tesla's report redacts the crash narrative, software version and operating-area fields. A similar crash in Florida on 6 October 2025 has been reported with the same pattern. Gizmodo reported the matching and noted that Tesla did not respond to its request for comment.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"severe","severity_because":"Test: safety of life. Fact: the Tesla's driver died at the scene.","harm_class":["bodily"],"affected_description":"Driver of the Tesla died at the scene; eastbound Loop 202 freeway closed for hours","protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://electrek.co/2026/08/31/tesla-driver-assist-stopped-freeway-mesa/","publisher":"Electrek","date":"2026-08-31","type":"press","title":"A second Tesla driver died stopped on a freeway with Autopilot/Self-Driving on - Electrek","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"},{"url":"https://electrek.co/2026/08/31/tesla-driver-assist-model-3-stopped-i4-fatal/","publisher":"Electrek","date":"2026-08-31","type":"press","title":"Tesla driver who died when his car stopped on highway was using FSD/Autopilot - Electrek","archived_url":null},{"url":"https://gizmodo.com/another-telsa-on-autopilot-stopped-on-freeway-driver-died-report-2000805742","publisher":"Gizmodo","date":"2026-09-01","type":"press","title":"Another Tesla on Autopilot Stopped on Freeway, Driver Died: Report - Gizmodo","archived_url":null,"independence":"independent"}],"per_field_confidence":{"event.date_occurred":"C","impact.harm_class":"C","impact.affected_description":"C","context.country":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","event.detection_method":"D","system.developer":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"event.date_occurred":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Just after 3 a.m. on October 31, 2025, a Tesla sedan was struck from behind by a Ford F-350 pickup on the eastbound Loop 202 (Red Mountain) freeway near Dobson Road in Mesa, Arizona."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The Tesla’s driver died at the scene, and the eastbound freeway was closed for hours, Arizona’s Family (KPHO/KTVK) and 12News reported."}],"impact.affected_description":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The Tesla’s driver died at the scene, and the eastbound freeway was closed for hours, Arizona’s Family (KPHO/KTVK) and 12News reported."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Just after 3 a.m. on October 31, 2025, a Tesla sedan was struck from behind by a Ford F-350 pickup on the eastbound Loop 202 (Red Mountain) freeway near Dobson Road in Mesa, Arizona."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Just after 3 a.m. on October 31, 2025, a Tesla sedan was struck from behind by a Ford F-350 pickup on the eastbound Loop 202 (Red Mountain) freeway near Dobson Road in Mesa, Arizona."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The Tesla’s driver died at the scene, and the eastbound freeway was closed for hours, Arizona’s Family (KPHO/KTVK) and 12News reported."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"The Tesla’s driver died at the scene, and the eastbound freeway was closed for hours, Arizona’s Family (KPHO/KTVK) and 12News reported."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Just after 3 a.m. on October 31, 2025, a Tesla sedan was struck from behind by a Ford F-350 pickup on the eastbound Loop 202 (Red Mountain) freeway near Dobson Road in Mesa, Arizona."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Tesla identifies the vehicle as a 2020 Model 3, marks the automation “Engagement Status” as “Verified Engaged,” and lists the car’s pre-crash movement as “Stopped” at 0 mph in a freeway lane, in clear weather with no unusual road conditions."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The Tesla’s driver died at the scene, and the eastbound freeway was closed for hours, Arizona’s Family (KPHO/KTVK) and 12News reported."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"The initial coverage was thin — the Arizona Department of Public Safety said only that two vehicles were involved and didn’t detail injuries."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Then it redacts the three fields that would explain it: the crash narrative, the software version (which hides whether it was Autopilot or “Full Self-Driving”), and whether the road was within the system’s approved operating area — all as “confidential business information,” the same redactions Tesla applies to 99.9% of its reports."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"Around 9:25 p.m. on October 6, 2025, a 2020 Tesla Model 3 was stopped in the center eastbound lane of I-4 near Lake Mary Boulevard in Seminole County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol."},{"source_index":2,"quote":"Gizmodo reached out to Tesla for comment regarding these reports but did not receive a response at the time of publication."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"Sources are press reports (Electrek, Gizmodo); no police, NHTSA or Tesla statement on this crash's cause is quoted. The cause of the stop, the driver's state and the role of the driver-assist system are not established; the Electrek 'obvious candidate' passage is speculation and was not used as a fact. Tesla's software version, crash narrative and operating-area fields are redacted in the sources, so model_version, harness and intended use are omitted. Disclosure and detection dates are not stated as sentences, so date_disclosed and date_detected are omitted; the article dates (2026-08-31, 2026-09-01) were not used as disclosure dates. The sources describe a Level 2 driver-assist, not an autonomous agent, so agent fields, failure classes, trigger and root cause are omitted. Judgement: autonomy_level mapped from 'Level 2' to supervised-auto; severity 'severe' applied on the safety-of-life test from the driver's death; reversibility 'irreversible' from the death; incident_class 'other' as no closed class fits. Deployment context and lifecycle stage are not stated and were left out. Third-party count and loss figures are not stated. The Florida crash is included only as a precursor and timeline item, not as this incident's facts. No remediation is reported in the sources. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (1 report: Gizmodo · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"US","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"The 2020 Model 3 was reported with driver-assist marked verified engaged and was stopped at 0 mph in a freeway lane.","quote":"Tesla identifies the vehicle as a 2020 Model 3, marks the automation “Engagement Status” as “Verified Engaged,” and lists the car’s pre-crash movement as “Stopped” at 0 mph in a freeway lane, in clear weather with no unusual road conditions.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"The pickup struck the stopped Tesla across its entire rear, according to Tesla's report.","quote":"It says the Tesla was struck across its entire rear by the front of the pickup — a straightforward rear-end into a stationary car.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"reached","text":"The Tesla's driver died at the scene and the eastbound freeway was closed for hours.","quote":"The Tesla’s driver died at the scene, and the eastbound freeway was closed for hours, Arizona’s Family (KPHO/KTVK) and 12News reported.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"Electrek matched the crash to Tesla's redacted NHTSA report, filed under a Standing General Order for Level 2 driver-assist crashes.","quote":"Electrek matched that crash to a redacted report in Tesla’s filings to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, under a Standing General Order that requires automakers to report crashes where a Level 2 driver-assist system was engaged within 30 seconds of impact.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"Tesla's report redacts the crash narrative, software version and operating-area fields as confidential business information.","quote":"Then it redacts the three fields that would explain it: the crash narrative, the software version (which hides whether it was Autopilot or “Full Self-Driving”), and whether the road was within the system’s approved operating area — all as “confidential business information,” the same redactions Tesla applies to 99.9% of its reports.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://electrek.co/2026/08/31/tesla-driver-assist-stopped-freeway-mesa/","https://electrek.co/2026/08/31/tesla-driver-assist-model-3-stopped-i4-fatal/","https://gizmodo.com/another-telsa-on-autopilot-stopped-on-freeway-driver-died-report-2000805742"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Earlier similar crash in Florida: a 2020 Tesla Model 3 was stopped in a live lane of I-4.","quote":"Around 9:25 p.m. on October 6, 2025, a 2020 Tesla Model 3 was stopped in the center eastbound lane of I-4 near Lake Mary Boulevard in Seminole County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.","source_index":1,"when":"2025-10-06"},{"text":"The Tesla was struck from behind by a Ford F-350 pickup on the Loop 202 freeway in Mesa, Arizona.","quote":"Just after 3 a.m. on October 31, 2025, a Tesla sedan was struck from behind by a Ford F-350 pickup on the eastbound Loop 202 (Red Mountain) freeway near Dobson Road in Mesa, Arizona.","source_index":0,"when":"2025-10-31"},{"text":"Gizmodo sought comment from Tesla and received no response before publication.","quote":"Gizmodo reached out to Tesla for comment regarding these reports but did not receive a response at the time of publication.","source_index":2,"when":null}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://electrek.co/2026/08/31/tesla-driver-assist-stopped-freeway-mesa/","https://electrek.co/2026/08/31/tesla-driver-assist-model-3-stopped-i4-fatal/","https://gizmodo.com/another-telsa-on-autopilot-stopped-on-freeway-driver-died-report-2000805742"]}}