Elon tweeting and now picked up by Forbes: http://fortune.com/2015/10/29/tesla-autopilot-uber-crash/?xid=yahoo_fortune
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Elon tweeting and now picked up by Forbes: http://fortune.com/2015/10/29/tesla-autopilot-uber-crash/?xid=yahoo_fortune
Hodginator
Member
I'm glad you are ok and this is an excellent example of what this technology can do. Very impressive.
Just to clarify, this was full Autopilot with lane keeping, not simply TACC?
I find this incident actually very fascinating as it seems counterintuitive and makes me contemplate how we drive every day:
Given the conditions, I and probably a lot of other drivers would feel that it was unsafe to even engage Autopilot, but rather we would have probably driven slower than the OP did.
However, as the OP described, I would assume that every seasoned driver would probably watch for cars darting out of the right lane, instead of paying attention to the stopped vehicle.
If we had not stopped to let this guy turn, most of us would have probably crashed into him, even at the slightly lower speed we'd selected.
Therefore, this situation seems to support Tesla's approach and, at least for me, counters the gut feeling that difficult road conditions like these were unsafe for autonomous driving.
Just to clarify, Tesla Autopilot is NOT "autonomous driving". Tesla has been very clear about that.
"Autonomous driving" is you get in the car, enter a nav destination, and the car takes you to your destination without you having any further interaction with the car.
DillyBop
Member
i've also had a couple instances now where AutoPilot has saved me from a possible accident. very cool indeed.
Thank you for the clarification and sorry for my lapse in language.
However, I believe that 99.99% of people on here are aware of this.
In the future I will refrain from using the A word.
But back to my point, which was that Tesla's driver assistance features to me always felt like something to be tested out under perfect driving conditions.
However, this incident in very tough lighting and road conditions has really impressed me in that this beta software was able to to avert an accident that potentially more than 50% of human drivers would not have been able to do.
But back to my point, which was that Tesla's driver assistance features to me always felt like something to be tested out under perfect driving conditions.
However, this incident in very tough lighting and road conditions has really impressed me in that this beta software was able to to avert an accident that potentially more than 50% of human drivers would not have been able to do.
Look at the conditions: there is stopped traffic to the right, barricades with no shoulder to the left, possibly lights ahead, and possibility of traffic turning and entering.
Under those conditions, there is additional responsibility for the driver that necessitates going lower than the speed limit. A speed differential of 45mph in those conditions is unsafe, IMHO.
Credit to emergency braking (and not AP) that the other guys life was saved and your day was not ruined
Under those conditions, there is additional responsibility for the driver that necessitates going lower than the speed limit. A speed differential of 45mph in those conditions is unsafe, IMHO.
Credit to emergency braking (and not AP) that the other guys life was saved and your day was not ruined
ozweepay
Member
I get very squirrelly driving in the conditions shown in the video: I'm usually worried that a car will pull out from the RIGHT lane after being frustrated at being stuck in traffic. I would be driving more like 25mph manually, and afraid to blink.
Would a non-AP MS do this as well?
Also, what would have happened if a MS hit the blue car at 45mph? I know Teslas are made of sturdy stuff, so I assume the blue car would have suffered quite a bit of damage?
Would a non-AP MS do this as well?
Also, what would have happened if a MS hit the blue car at 45mph? I know Teslas are made of sturdy stuff, so I assume the blue car would have suffered quite a bit of damage?
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
Given the weight and sturdiness of the Model S, at the very least the other driver would have been in the hospital.
I think using autopilot in the above situation was justified. It's a highway, with a barrier in between 90% of the road. Occasionally you can turn left. This near miss had nothing to do with Autopilot admittedly. I could have manually been cruising along at 40 mph and that idiot could have failed to yield and automatic breaking still would have kicked in. So the criticism of using lane centering hardly makes any sense. The car has no problems staying in the lane on this road. I do it every day.
As for the speed. It's funny that there is a sizable minority that thinks I should have been going 20 mph (less than half the speed limit). Even in the conservative driving city of Seattle, I have never in my life seen someone going so slow because traffic is stopped to their right. You guys really go half the speed limit on the off-chance that someone is going to do something highly illegal? That is silly. If you think I was going too fast to stop for a car pulling in front of me, you are wrong (and I have the video to prove it!).
I'm not going to stop for people to make a left hand turn across a highway. There was probably a dozen left hand turners on my way home I could have stopped for. It's a terribly inefficient way to drive, and if people drove like that, there would be significantly more traffic. Not to mention my customers would be really agitated, and feel like I am trying to milk the meter.
I know there was rain drops on my windshield but the roads were dry at this point.
As for the speed. It's funny that there is a sizable minority that thinks I should have been going 20 mph (less than half the speed limit). Even in the conservative driving city of Seattle, I have never in my life seen someone going so slow because traffic is stopped to their right. You guys really go half the speed limit on the off-chance that someone is going to do something highly illegal? That is silly. If you think I was going too fast to stop for a car pulling in front of me, you are wrong (and I have the video to prove it!).
I'm not going to stop for people to make a left hand turn across a highway. There was probably a dozen left hand turners on my way home I could have stopped for. It's a terribly inefficient way to drive, and if people drove like that, there would be significantly more traffic. Not to mention my customers would be really agitated, and feel like I am trying to milk the meter.
I know there was rain drops on my windshield but the roads were dry at this point.
I agree with you that going less than 20 mph is not warranted in these conditions.
The important question for me here is, was this emergency breaking or AP?
If this was emergency breaking, shouldn't there have been some form of notification with bells and whistles on the dash?
I assume that you started again on your own, once the jerk cleared the road, since you mentioned that you stepped on the brake after your car came to a stop, which should have canceled the AP.
The important question for me here is, was this emergency breaking or AP?
If this was emergency breaking, shouldn't there have been some form of notification with bells and whistles on the dash?
I assume that you started again on your own, once the jerk cleared the road, since you mentioned that you stepped on the brake after your car came to a stop, which should have canceled the AP.
I don't know if you should have been going 20 or 40 mph when driving with construction on the left and stopping cars on the right, but it reminds me of the saying "You were right, dead right, as you drove along, but you're just as dead as if you'd been dead wrong." With so little room for evasive maneuvering, I would have turned off the TACC and waited until it was stop and go before turning it back on.
It depends on what you mean. Autopilot IS emergency braking. Along with TACC and Autosteer. I had Autosteering and TACC active when this happened. Collision detection (the chime) happened, but the car had already slammed on the brakes before I could react to it. I wasn't looking at the dash to tell.
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That wasn't construction. That is a barrier to protect you from traffic going the opposite way. It has flexible cones on top for whatever reason. If the qualifier for using autopilot is "when nobody around you can do anything illegal" then why did you pay for it at all? Either way, I am happy to be driving a car that avoided a major collision.
My understanding is that all cars built since late Sep 2014 have the necessary sensors to do AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) and AP (Autopilot). AEB software is present and functional in all those cars. It is not an option. AP is an option and is only functional if the owner pays for it.
Although you were using AP and TACC at the time of the incident, I think what saved you in this case was the AEB. And I'm glad it did.
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