Blind spot hardware changes pending?

I certainly think that this will be necessary. It will also cause a major outcry by the existing owners

dirkhh said:

I certainly think that this will be necessary. It will also cause a major outcry by the existing owners

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I do not need them to change how it notifies me, I just need it to work reliably. I find that it misses about 25% of the cars that enter my blind spot and is pretty useless at them moment.

If they were going to change it to any other location, the place to put it would be the rear camera as that's what you check before the head check.

jerry33 said:

If they were going to change it to any other location, the place to put it would be the rear camera as that's what you check before the head check.

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I think the number of people using the rear camera all the time is small. Makes me motion sick.

Also, I'd bet heavily they don't change the hardware for this. There are fine ways of improving the system without HW changes (gate off turn signal, more apparant indicators on the dash that can be seen in peripheral vision, different audio cues). I also don't particularly want flashing lights near the mirrors, especially if they aren't gating off the turn signal. It's distracting and annoying.

Stoneymonster said:

I think the number of people using the rear camera all the time is small. Makes me motion sick.

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Maybe we need a poll

jerry33 said:

Maybe we need a poll

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I could be wrong

Stoneymonster said:

I could be wrong

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And maybe you're right. Be interesting to find out. However, I don't recall reading any other posts about the camera causing motion sickness.

Using the rear cam while driving makes me motion sick too. I also do not want to give up the screen real-estate since I use half for NAV and half for my music selection. Not to mention, the blind spot hardware should work such that it is not necessary to use some other mechanism or it is pointless to even have it in the car.

I do think putting it in the mirrors would be better but TM is trying to do away with mirrors. However, I sent TM a note about some suggestions for improvements (like they listen to me :biggrin. For the time being I would like to see the blind spot detector show up in yellow, not white. too much white already on the speedo and the white arch gets lost. Even a single red line instead of white with double red for impending accident would be better.

Moving forward. IF TM replaces side mirrors with cameras (maybe even a retrofit...OK, I'm dreaming) then the small camera stalk could have a red warning indicator?

Perhaps I'm just tuned to audible indicators, but I think a warning tone when the turn signal indicates a lane change is being contemplated would be as useful, or more useful, than a visible light around the mirror.

I've driven cars with the lights and find they aren't really useful unless you train yourself to look for them. The 2015 Audi in our fleet lets you adjust the brightness of the orange lights in the inside of the rearview mirror, but even then it took me some time to get used to them... and most importantly - NOTICE them!! In bright light, with all the stuff going on around you, they just blend in. For me a sharp audible indicator would be more useful... especially if it comes in advance of the audible indicator (horn) of the driver you're about to hit! (followed thereafter by the visible indicator of a single finger...)

How about vibrating the right and left side of the seat in addition to providing an audible and visual alert? Ford uses vibrational alerts in the Tahoe and they work very well. Also, Tesla needs to think of deaf and hard-of-hearing drivers. My spouse is deaf and would never hear an alert of any kind. He would also have to be looking at the screen in order to see many alerts, but our eyes are usually on the road and not the screens. I sent the suggestion for vibration alerts to Tesla, but nobody replied. Perhaps the needs of the deaf and the hard-of-hearing are not a priority for them.

AmpedRealtor said:

How about vibrating the right and left side of the seat in addition to providing an audible and visual alert? Ford uses vibrational alerts in the Tahoe and they work very well. Also, Tesla needs to think of deaf and hard-of-hearing drivers. My spouse is deaf and would never hear an alert of any kind. He would also have to be looking at the screen in order to see many alerts, but our eyes are usually on the road and not the screens. I sent the suggestion for vibration alerts to Tesla, but nobody replied. Perhaps the needs of the deaf and the hard-of-hearing are not a priority for them.

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Good point, and I like the vibrational feedback idea, maybe they could extend the steering wheel vibration somehow. As for your suggestions to Tesla, to whom did you send them? I find that unless you have a way to get beyond the first level folks at companies, suggestions go nowhere. It's like submitted a resume directly to HR

jerry33 said:

And maybe you're right. Be interesting to find out. However, I don't recall reading any other posts about the camera causing motion sickness.

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I'm another "no." It's queasy-making, and would be another touch on the panel (or full-time loss of valuable Nav map/directions area).
(Possible exception is when the rear mirror is blocked by cargo)

SW2Fiddler said:

I'm another "no." It's queasy-making, and would be another touch on the panel (or full-time loss of valuable Nav map/directions area).
(Possible exception is when the rear mirror is blocked by cargo)

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Same here. I can drive with rear camera on for prolonged (> 2 mins or so) periods of time.

i find it interesting what they might do with the X here. It would be simple* to have rear view mirror be the only rear view is they had an motored adjustment for automagically changing of rear camera and being less fish-eyed.

*simple from a technology perspective, less from a regulatory compliance standpoint...

Will we ever be happy with our cars? If people had their mirrors PROPERLY adjusted there would be no need for "blind spot" warning because a properly adjusted mirror eliminates any blind spot. There may be an indicator on future mirrors but the truth is it's going to get to the point where looking over the shoulder will create more of a safety hazard then keeping your head straight... which is kind of the point. We are almost there now. The Model S will force us to change COMPLETELY how we look at driving.

Matias said:

Current blind spot warning is not good, because you are not looking at speedometer when doing line change. You are looking at the side mirror. Other manufacturers have put warning either to a mirror or to A-pillar.

I believe Tesla will do the same.

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I'm not a fan of the current setup for sure, though I'm not convinced it is necessary to change hardware here to be a lot more aware of our blind spots. I really like the fw7.0 preview as it could give you a constant "God view" of the location of vehicles and that would improve my situational awareness at all time, not just when changing lanes. I think we might all be judging this current version little prematurely of the finished ability - self-included ;-)

So long as there are side mirrors, I am going to use them. If the point of blind spot warning is to warn you of something which may be in a blind spot, then the warning should include a visual indicator near the side view mirrors. Its simple logic for those of us who actually use our mirrors. It, and 360 degree view, are 2 of the things I love about my previous car setup. I hope Tesla either includes, or moots, these 2 features on the Model S, soon.

NoMoGas said:

Will we ever be happy with our cars? If people had their mirrors PROPERLY adjusted there would be no need for "blind spot" warning because a properly adjusted mirror eliminates any blind spot. There may be an indicator on future mirrors but the truth is it's going to get to the point where looking over the shoulder will create more of a safety hazard then keeping your head straight... which is kind of the point. We are almost there now. The Model S will force us to change COMPLETELY how we look at driving.

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The only way to eliminate the blind spot its too replace the mirrors with convex, unfortunately despite being much safer, it's also illegal in most jurisdictions (Japan at least gets this one right! )

Any other adjustment, especially the oft touted solution of moving the mirrors further out, is extremely dangerous as it doesn't eliminate the blind spots, it just moves them to a spot that's even harder to see (further back and closer in to the car)

Without a change of legislation, the "traditional" way of seeing the mirrors, combined with proper shoulder checking is the safest way to drive. I also advocate stick on convex mirrors as a good partial solution.

As for blind spot warnings from tesla, I think the inside of the A pillar is likely the best spot, after watching a video of the current ones, they're not a very good implementation.

Riprazor said:

I do not need them to change how it notifies me, I just need it to work reliably. I find that it misses about 25% of the cars that enter my blind spot and is pretty useless at them moment.

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We'll agree to disagree then. The notification in the dash is utterly and completely useless to me.