‘Like Crazy’: Fury over Musk’s ‘Mad Max’ move

Elon Musk might have finally gone too far this time, with authorities launching a probe into his latest ‘crazy’ antics.

America’s highway safety authority is investigating Tesla’s use of a “Mad Max” feature, accusing Elon Musk’s EV giant of enabling speeding “like crazy” and breaking road rules.

Tesla recently implemented new settings for its “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” driving assistance feature in the US that changes the way the car behaves when using its advanced version of cruise control.

Customers can choose from Mild, Average, or Mad Max modes that affect the car’s speed and posture on the road.

Tesla’s Mad Max mode.

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Tesla says “the Mild setting is more conservative about lane changes and may result in a slightly longer driving time whereas Mad Max is designed to allow you to reach your destination in the shortest driving time possible, but changes lanes only when safe to do so”.

Mad Max https://t.co/T3GxhCM1DD

— Tesla (@Tesla) October 16, 2025

Owners turned to X with feedback on the feature, which is not currently available in Australia.

One customer, TeslaXplored, said the feature was “absolutely amazing … so decisive and so confident in how it makes lane changes”.

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Tesla’s latest antics are inspired by Mad Max.

Another, Nic Cruz Patane, said it “accelerates and weaves through traffic at an incredible pace, all while still being super smooth. It drives your car like a sports car. If you are running late, this is the mode for you”.

But others expressed concern with the way the feature can exceed the speed limit and weave through traffic.

The new Tesla FSD v14.1.2 truly lives up to its Mad Max Mode name. $TSLApic.twitter.com/tS397BORdR

— Tesla Owners World âš¡ (@TeslaOwnersWrld) October 16, 2025

Tropofarmer said he “just blew past a highway cop doing 24 MPH (39 km/h) over the limit with the new Mad Max self-driving profile”, while DirtyTesLa said “Mad Max seems to be for heavy, aggressive traffic so you can fit in better.

“On open roads, it’s going to speed like crazy, so it doesn’t make sense to use there. And it’s optional, so if you don’t like it of course you never have to turn it on.

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Danielle Collis testing Tesla's Full Self Driving (Supervised).

“Part of me gets it, but part of me wonders why Tesla would even bring this possible scrutiny on FSD when they already got a slap for rolling a stop sign, which like 99 per cent of drivers do, and I feel is safer to do in many situations anyway.”

Tesla has sparked controversy with US regulators in the past, having programmed vehicles to break road rules by rolling through stop signs rather than coming to a halt.

Mel Gibson in a scene from Mad Max. Picture: Supplied

America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a statement surrounding Tesla’s latest self-driving features, saying “NHTSA is in contact with the manufacturer to gather additional information. The human behind the wheel is fully responsible for driving the vehicle and complying with all traffic safety laws”.