Lane Departure Warning Sensitivity Options Poll

I've just sent the following letter to [email protected]:

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I’m writing with a suggestion for an improvement to the Lane Departure Warning system.

I think this system should have at least one additional setting that allows for fewer warnings than the number given now. The options could be something along the lines of “Early Warning” and “Late Warning” or “High Sensitivity” and “Low Sensitivity”. This would be similar to the system currently in place with the Forward Collision Warning System, which allows the driver to select the sensitivity level at which he or she wants to be alerted.

The reason there is a need for this is that the current system is often alerting at very slight deviations from being perfectly equidistant between the lines on either side of the road. When I’m driving I’m often moving from one side of the lane or road to the other for good reason, and being alerted unnecessarily. Occasionally I’m just failing to keep the car as far from the center line (on a two lane road) as the system might like, but not actually touching the center line, and the system will alert. I recognize that there may be some drivers who prefer this level of sensitivity, and that is fine. They would choose to drive with “Early Warning” or “High Sensitivity” selected. But other drivers, including some who have probably turned the Lane Departure Warning System off, would choose to use the system if it were set to alert less frequently. So there is an additional safety benefit there as well.

I hope Tesla will consider adding this option in a future firmware release.

Thanks.
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I thought it would be interesting, and possibly helpful to the cause, to take a poll of the users here, to see if others agree with me.

Thanks!

thimel said:

I like the present sensitivity, but don't object to making it adjustable. It does alarm fairly often, but I find it just the proper volume that I notice it but false alarms aren't annoying.
I learned from it that I tended to cut towards the inside of a curve and am correcting that habit. While I don't go over the line, I figure it is better for drivers in adjacent lanes if I stay centered.

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I'm guessing you probably don't do a lot of driving on two lane roads.

On the two lane roads I travel frequently, there is often something or somebody on the shoulder that is giving me a good reason to move closer to the center of the road. In these situations I can't signal, because I'm not changing lanes, but the slight shift by a foot or two to the left is enough to set off the lane departure warning. It gets pretty annoying.

I have considered turning it off, but I don't want to go that far. I really hope Tesla will provide an option that allows for lower sensitivity.

Blu Zap said:

On another note, I notice that latency is an issue. For example when I pass a semi on the freeway at for example 75 mph and the truck is going 55 mph, i will turn on the blinker to move into that lane after I am clear. But the sensor does not understand the speed difference and that the safe space is growing in a second. Not sure if they can figure that one out. That is the only time I get false positives.

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That doesn't sound like the Lane Departure Warning system you are referring to, but rather the Blind Spot Warning system.

Blu Zap said:

@Andy, you are right. My comment was based on the Blind Spot Warning for false positives. The lane departure does work well, but would definitely like sensitivity adjustments to be available per the survey. Thx.

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I wonder how many of the people selecting the first option--"I use the system; I don't think there would be any benefit from a lower sensitivity option." might also be confusing the two systems.

Could some of the people selecting the first option in the poll, stating you don't think there would be a benefit to a lower sensitivity option please explain why you feel that way?

Thanks.

RAW84 said:

I find the system to be a major annoyance driving through narrow streets in Boston, so I don't use it and wouldn't use it even if they made the sensitivity adjustable.

I do wish there was a way to use it just for highway travel.

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I'm planning on writing to Tesla again, to direct them to this thread. I'll add a suggestion that they also include an option to only enable the lane departure warning system above a user definable speed, so that if someone wants to use it only on the highway, they could do that by setting the speed that it kicks in at to 55 or 60 MPH.