That driver was making a very complex decision in a very short amount of time. Did he analyze the traffic around him and conclude that it was safe to enter the adjacent lane, or was he just reacting impulsively? How much better - or worse - will the computers of AP do in such a situation?
That's the beauty of it: the Tesla warning me was able to make me make a faster fuller reaction, including a swift enough enacting of my horn, that the driver behind me was also able to make a swifter reaction and have more time to do it. They did pause and think first; their first reaction was assertive braking. I think they must have then spent the time to look around, to the right lane, to see if they could get in it (which they could since there was room), and they may have also had to consider what was going on behind them. I was surprised they didn't just slam on the brakes, but perhaps they judged that going around was best. I tend to try to bring my car to a stop in as slow a manner as possible given the amount of room I have available so others around me have the maximum reaction space and so I don't get hit, but of course, there's not a lot of leeway in that kind of slowdown. But in my intentionally lagged slowdown, the horn also helps them to become alerted faster than seeing the jolt of my car coming to a screeching halt a bit too late.
I think the warning system helps not only me but everyone around me.
When I drive on the California freeways I always find that people there tend not to leave a safe distance between their car and the one in front, compared to the East Coast highways of my home region. Frequent warnings and panic stops are a clear indication this is happening. Unfortunately any attempt by a single drive to remediate this simply results in opportunistic neighbors filling the empty space in search of an arrival time a few seconds earlier than they might have had. That action is often accompanied by a contemptuous look.
I will try your suggestion of using the "Early" setting. I expect to hear chimes rather than charms: damn you AutoCorrect.
While I know what you mean about space fillers, I oddly have not had an awful time of that. Sure, people do fill my spaces, but not as often as would be overly nuisansome. Occasionally, a chain of cars decides I'm slow, and starts cutting me off, which does create a flow pattern that pushes me back and the problem gets worse, but that's not that often. I think this has something to do with my driving: when I'm in a hurry, I amble up to the safe following distance of the car in front of me. When I'm not in a hurry, I get over into the right lane and just take it easy. In fact, I'm used to trying to get to work on time in the morning, but sometimes, when I have no deadlines, I get downright uninterested in getting there quickly and I have to force myself over to the right lane pretty hard, when I'm usually used to the left lane.
