HookBill
Member
That's why it's important to keep both hands on your iPhone while it auto-corrects. There will be times when the typist needs to take over. 
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Autopilot slammed on breaks in middle of highway
- Thread starter Zybd1201
- Start date
Thanks for your post, and I'm glad you are okay and were alert and focused enough to react quickly. How far were you from the overhead sign in front of you when the brakes were automatically applied, and what were the weather conditions were at the time of the event?
As @Krypto Kat mentioned, Teslas do not have a "heads up" display, which is a projected display above the top of the dash.
I'm curious what you are getting at with the overhead sign. We know from Elon's tweet that the radar tunes that out to avoid false positives and the front camera is also there to detect forward events. It doesn't happen every day but most of us who use AP have experienced what the OP talks about w/r/t sudden false breaking events.
Wow, never thought I'd read a Kurtis Blow reference here. You Tesla owners are cool!
Agree, we know that, but no system is perfect. The person who started this thread later posted, quote "I suspect it was an overhead traffic sign." So I am asking for more information about that.
Thanks for the clarification.
Weather conditions were clear and dry.
I would say I was about 100 yards from the large overhead sign at the time of the event. Although it happened very quickly and my immediate concern was regaining speed and checking my surroundings I immediately noticed that sign and considered it the probably cause. I believe I was cresting a minor hill. I drive this road ver frequently though and it has never happened before.
SDRick
Active Member
Did the car ever notice there was no obstacle during the breaking and let off on the brakes or did the car come to a complete stop?
I immediately took over the car and did not give it the opportunity to continue with whatever it would have done next.
Are you saying you have experienced this sudden braking also? What were the circumstances? How can we anticipate this better so as not to cause an accident!?
Cyclone
Cyclonic Member ((.oO))
I have noticed in a friend's AP-enabled car (mine is a Classic w/o AP) that AP will still drive well, but gets less confident at the crest of minor hills, often asking us to touch the wheel (not red, immediately take the wheel, but the typical nag) or hunt slightly side-to-side. This is on I-85 South and North between Charlotte and Atlanta.
Given the Op believes he was cresting a minor hill that had an overhead sign, I could imagine the sign looked below AP's cutoff for overhead signs and then took action believe it was in the path of the car at the moment (even if a second later it would realize it wasn't).
This is my thought as well. I wish my 12V was working so I would have video so everyone could see.
I think it is incredibly important we share these things as much as we can so that collectively we can 1. keep each other safe, 2. help Tesla improve the product.
I debated posting this thread for 3-4 hours because I know what kind of responses I will get but that is ok. We should share these things and figure out the cause so we can better anticipate flaws in the system and avoid problems for ourselves and for Tesla.
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Yes several times. One time when the car was locked on to the car in front of me. That car then pulled on to the left shoulder and stopped. The road in front of me was clear but AP (or AEB) got confused and braked hard. Another two or three times it was AEB that activated for no reason that I could figure out.
Agree, if the people that want to immediately blame the driver will be a little bit more forgiving I think we will get more good feedback.
I agree. I'm glad you posted it. False positives are bound to happen, and it is in both the public and Tesla's best interest to understand the conditions that can create them.
My guess is that the recent update included a change to prevent a repeat of the Florida incident. There was an overhead sign that for some reason the car wasn't sure it would safely go under it, so it activated an emergency stop.
Since I got version .19 my car has slammed on the brakes while I am on the freeway twice. Never had problems before that and it is the same road and lane I take everyday going home. Both times it happened in slow traffic. I really assessed the situation when it happened last time and cannot figure out why it did what it did. Car up front was rolling around 15 MPH while I was following with about 3 cars length. I was ready when it happened though as I immediately stepped on the accelerator when it did it. I send tesla a voice note right after it happened.
1st. Tesla did call me today. Which is great. They were also very nice about it. They have not pulled the logs yet. I have an appointment tomorrow anyways to get my 12V system fixed so they said they would address it then.
Also, I looked back and I believe this is where it happened, right under/near this sign. I was in the middle lane.
Also, I looked back and I believe this is where it happened, right under/near this sign. I was in the middle lane.
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I just did 2 round trip drives between Miami and Tampa. During both trips on open highway without other cars around and during daylight hours my car while on autopilot made sudden jerking turns of the steering wheel. I caught it before it could switch lanes if that in fact is what it wanted to do. At least one time a ghost vehicle showed up on the dash. I love autopilot but these episodes have me paying way more attention and trusting autopilot less.
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