Adaptive Cruise Control (experience post FW v6.1)

[EarlyAdopter]

Not according to Nolo:

Rear-End Accidents Involving Multiple Vehicles

In some situations, both you and the car *behind you will be stopped when a third car runs into the car behind you and pushes it into the rear of your car. In that sort of "chain reaction" crash, it is the driver of the third car who is at fault and against whose liability insurance you would file a claim.

There's an important caveat left off there - only so long as you've left an appropriate distance to the car in front of you and don't get cited for "following too closely" (which does apply to stopping distances as well). What's that distance? Depends on the responding officer's judgement based on weather, slope, and speed limit on the road. No officer? Then your insurance will most definitely be involved.

Best to avoid it altogether if possible.


This is pretty telling (bolded for emphasis):
Multiple vehicles involved in a rear end collision

Norman Gregory Fernandez / Law Offices Of Norman Gregory Fernandez
Answered 5 years ago
This attorney is licensed in California
VIEW ATTORNEY PROFILE

Yes you must keep a safe enough distance to stop if need be. I usually go after everyone behind my client and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[MarcG]

Likely because the radar can't distinguish between a car in front but a lane over vs a car in your lane but on a curve.

Actually, I believe that it can. I have tested multiple scenarios which confirmed this:

1. Following a car through a curve with no other cars in other lanes: TACC keeps tracking the car in front and slows down as appropriate

2. Going through a right curve with a car in the lane to my left: TACC does not track any car and keeps the cruise control speed previously set

3. Going through a left curve with a car in the lane to my right: same as #2

So I think TACC is using a combination of the radar and the camera to figure out which cars to track. The camera helps figure this out if it can read lane limits.

 

[Todd Burch]

Likely because the radar can't distinguish between a car in front but a lane over vs a car in your lane but on a curve. The angle is the same. The safer response is what the car did- maintain speed. Otherwise the car might accelerate towards a car directly in front of you when it entered a curve but you're still tens to hundred feet from the entrance of the curve.

It should be able to by looking at the angle of the steering wheel.

 

[NOLA_Mike]

So I think TACC is using a combination of the radar and the camera to figure out which cars to track. The camera helps figure this out if it can read lane limits.

I agree with this conclusion - it is absolutely using the radar AND image recognition from the camera to operate. As a matter of fact, if the camera view is obstructed it will refuse to operate, correct?

Mike

 

[wk057]

Just remember this - if you get rear ended, it's on their insurance. If you get rear ended and pushed into the car in front of you, that's on your insurance.

I pay for insurance and have a front and rear dash cam for a reason.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

I pay for insurance and have a front and rear dash cam for a reason.

And if that front dash cam shows you were stopped too close when you get pushed into the car in front of you, you'll be paying more for that insurance.

Look, I really don't care how close you want to get to cars when you stop. That's your perogative. I just want a user selectable option for stopping distance so I can assert my perogative, same option as we have with follow distance. Does anyone disagree with that?

 

[wayner]

Where can I find documentation on how to use the new cruise control, other than the manual on the car itself? When I go onto MyTesla the Owner's Manual is 6.0. And MyTesla doesn't show 6.1 Release notes either, only 6.0.

 

[tezzla]

Where can I find documentation on how to use the new cruise control, other than the manual on the car itself? When I go onto MyTesla the Owner's Manual is 6.0. And MyTesla doesn't show 6.1 Release notes either, only 6.0.

Documentation? We don't need no stinkin' Documentation!

 

[mspohr]

Where can I find documentation on how to use the new cruise control, other than the manual on the car itself? When I go onto MyTesla the Owner's Manual is 6.0. And MyTesla doesn't show 6.1 Release notes either, only 6.0.

The manual on the car itself.
No dead trees allowed.

 

[wayner]

The manual on the car itself.
No dead trees allowed.

I don't care about dead trees but I would rather read this on my iPad or PC than in my car. Or even have it on your iPad while in the car so that you can use the screen for other purposes. When I go to MyTesla it still appears to be the 6.0 manual.

 

[andrewket]

I agree with this conclusion - it is absolutely using the radar AND image recognition from the camera to operate. As a matter of fact, if the camera view is obstructed it will refuse to operate, correct?

Mike

An interesting test..

 

[NOLA_Mike]

An interesting test..

I haven't tested this on the Tesla - I just know on previous vehicles with similar systems it would not work in fog or other conditions where the camera view was obstructed...

Mike

 

[LetsGoFast]

I'm about to drive somewhere. I'll block the camera with a post-it and see what happens.

 

[tezzla]

I'm about to drive somewhere. I'll block the camera with a post-it and see what happens.

I believe Bjorn did that test in one of his videos.

 

[Todd Burch]

Our 2006 Toyota Avalon has ACC. It's able to distinguish between cars in adjacent lanes and has no camera.

 

[stevezzzz]

WARNING: When you allow tacc to bring the car to a dead stop in traffic, don't forget that it's still armed: if you're the second car in line at a stop and the car ahead of you makes a right turn, you can't just ease forward to the stop line (creep OFF) because tacc will assume you want to resume traveling at speed as soon as you touch the accelerator. Surprised the heck out of me, though on reflection I should have been able to predict the behavior.

This is the first circumstance in which I've ever thought creep might be a good thing. :biggrin:

Following up on my earlier post, I tested the tacc behavior with creep ON, allowing it to stop the D behind another car at a traffic signal. When the car in front of me initiated a right turn and cleared the lane, the D did not creep forward but remained stopped and displayed the center console reminder to press the accelerator to resume.

I'd like to suggest that this is a missed opportunity: if the car is brought to a dead stop by tacc when creep is ON, and the driver's foot is not on the brake, then when the traffic in front of you starts to move the tacc should allow creep to function normally, with the car easing forward without driver intervention and maintaining a safe distance from the car in front, including braking automatically to a complete stop if the car in front stops again. You'll know that if the car in front turns out of your lane and you have to step on the brake to avoid creeping through the intersection, tacc will be disabled, just as it always is when you press the brake pedal. Conversely, if it's a case of traffic starting to move on a green light, tacc will still be locked on and would display the reminder to press the accelerator to resume.

In the same situation with creep OFF, presumably the tacc software knows that the car in front has cleared your traffic lane rather than just accelerated away from you in the lane, so maybe it would be better if it didn't launch toward the set speed as soon as you touch the throttle. That's a bit tricky and may confuse people as much or more than the current behavior, but it is much safer.

 

[meltoots]

How to we suggest improvements to Tesla?

I'd like to have an option for TACC to be either more performance or more efficiency.

I notice with TACC that if traffic slows and speeds up a lot, that the Tesla launches to get back up to the cruise set speed.
I actually would prefer on longer trips to have it gently get back up to speed more efficiently.

Anyone else feel the TACC is less efficient?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Following up on my earlier post, I tested the tacc behavior with creep ON, allowing it to stop the D behind another car at a traffic signal. When the car in front of me initiated a right turn and cleared the lane, the D did not creep forward but remained stopped and displayed the center console reminder to press the accelerator to resume.

I'd like to suggest that this is a missed opportunity: if the car is brought to a dead stop by tacc when creep is ON, and the driver's foot is not on the brake, then when the traffic in front of you starts to move the tacc should allow creep to function normally, with the car easing forward without driver intervention and maintaining a safe distance from the car in front, including braking automatically to a complete stop if the car in front stops again. You'll know that if the car in front turns out of your lane and you have to step on the brake to avoid creeping through the intersection, tacc will be disabled, just as it always is when you press the brake pedal. Conversely, if it's a case of traffic starting to move on a green light, tacc will still be locked on and would display the reminder to press the accelerator to resume.

In the same situation with creep OFF, presumably the tacc software knows that the car in front has cleared your traffic lane rather than just accelerated away from you in the lane, so maybe it would be better if it didn't launch toward the set speed as soon as you touch the throttle. That's a bit tricky and may confuse people as much or more than the current behavior, but it is much safer.

No. Way. Jo. Se.

Because of the increased likelihood of inattention after a stop, I think it's way too dangerous to have automatic resume.

 

[woof]

Because of the increased likelihood of inattention after a stop, I think it's way too dangerous to have automatic resume.

The way the BMW ACC works is after coming to a complete stop, if the car in front starts moving again within two or three seconds, ACC will stay active and automatically resume. After two or three seconds of a full stop, ACC turns off and requires re-activation with either accelerator pedal input or "resume" on the CC controls. There is a subtle indicator on the dash to show if it's active or not (green colored speed setting vs red colored).

 

[NoMoGas]

And if that front dash cam shows you were stopped too close when you get pushed into the car in front of you, you'll be paying more for that insurance.

This isn't really true, at least in my experience, yours may be different. Ive had it happen twice, the first time was a fatal accident sadly. Both times my insurance went after the guy behind me. One way the insurance determines who started the accident (the person who will ALWAYS be found 51% or more responsible) is to ask the first driver how many impacts they felt. If it's one, the guy behind you is toast. Yes, lawyers may sue everyone but "let the chips fall where they may" is almost alway the same place, the person who started the accident is held responsible.

Im still waiting for 6.1 for my P85+ so I haven't seen first hand where it stops, but from videos I've seen posted you could see the tires of the car in front. That's always far enough. I like to leave enough room to exit the lane if I must (emergency vehicle training I suppose).