Another Tesla Crash. This time into the delivery sign.

[kjl]

I can certainly understand if you accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake and the car jumped that the reflex is to "brake" harder and by the time your mistake registers in the rational part of your brain, it's too late.

I totally agree.

On Jalopnik they are saying she thought she put it in reverse but was actually in drive, got flustered and mashed the accelerator.

I know it sounds stupid, but I totally can relate. Like, when you've got your mental mapping of "push this pedal to go faster in this direction and this button to go slower" and then things behave in a way that causes your brain to break, I can totally see... not "panicking", but having the wrong muscle memory in a moment of reaction.

i.e. if you mentally *knew* that you were in reverse and the accel pedal would accelerate backwards, and you lightly press the accelerator and you drift forwards, I can see your instant-reflex brain thinking "oh crap I need to accelerate backwards even faster, so I need to push this pedal down even harder."

Two random anecdotes:

One time I was trying to make a quick left turn on a bicycle (from a stop) at a traffic light in front of some oncoming car traffic when the chain slipped completely off the gear. Obviously, with even a second of reflection, it's obvious that the chain has slipped and pedaling is no longer transmitting force to the wheel and the right thing to do is to hop off the bike and run/walk, but in the moment of reaction, where my body was simply going I NEED TO MOVE FASTER, I comically spun my pedals faster and faster and faster as I slowly coasted to a stop, and almost fell over. I even thought it was funny, and knew what I was doing wrong at time, but it took a second to be able to stop my legs from going at at.

Another time, I rented a car and was approaching a toll plaza. I pushed the clutch a little bit in to downshift, but it turns out my rental car didn't have a clutch; it was actually the left side of the brake pedal. So the car braked a little unexpectedly. Apparently my instinct when the car is behaving weirdly is to push the clutch/brake in more, which slowed the car down even more, which made my reflex to disengage the clutch RIGHT NOW even stronger, which resulted in my stomping the brake to the floor. I remember my friends freaking out, while I was actually clearheaded enough to know what I was doing, know that I needed to stop stomping on the brake pedal, look into the rear view mirror to see if I was about to get rearended (I wasn't), and laugh while explaining to my friends "I know I know I know! I can't stop" while willing my left foot to let go, while screeching to a halt maybe 15 feet before the toll booth.

 

[ecarfan]

I find that my internal clock operates at a different speed than the Tesla's computer. I sit down, hit the brake, shift the lever, and touch the accelerator and nothing happens - because it's still in park. This happens all the time, unless I slow my motions down and wait for the change to be made, and look at it on the dash which is irritating.

After seven months of ownership, what you describe still happens to me about once or twice a week. You're not the only one experiencing that.

 

[smartypnz]

Sunday afternoon, my wife was charging. This Tesla pulled up and was about to back in next to my wife's red MS. But took off forward, heading straight for the bldg. The lady driving swerved right and hit the sign. Airbag deployed.
The consensus there was that she grazed the bldg before hitting the sign. No injury to the humans.
My wife mentioned that her husband was there, but in another car.
Not a new car (do they deliver on Sundays?).

First reaction was everyone standing there looking at each other and WTF?

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

In retrospect, it's good that another car or worse, a person wasn't in the way. Could have been so easy for that to happen as folks walk back and forth between the superchargers and the lobby.

 

[No Tailpipe]

I would like to hear the story behind this one.

Excerpt from Jalopnik:

"The story I overheard from the woman who crashed was that she had turned in preparation to back into a supercharger, meant to throw it in reverse, but didn't, and then got "scared" when she hit the accelerator and started moving forward so she accidentally gunned it instead of jumping on the brake.


It was a stupid mistake, but it wasn't some alcohol induced delivery drama. It was someone who was legitimately scared who hit the wrong pedal."

 

[smartypnz]

A voice response such as "Reverse - Drive - Neutral - Park" would be a nice feature. Probably overkill, but still nice.

 

[ckessel]

On Jalopnik they are saying she thought she put it in reverse but was actually in drive, got flustered and mashed the accelerator.

FWIW, this happens to me pretty much every week. Well, expect the mash the accelerator part.

I have a steep driveway and I roll backwards down it, turn into the street, and flip the stalk into drive...and it doesn't go into drive. I think I'm still moving backwards too fast. I think it bings at me about it, but I can't recall (if there's a warning, it's fairly mild). It happens often enough I've gotten used to visually verifying nearly every time that the dash says "D" and not "R". I had a manual previously, so it was pretty hard to get that wrong , but even in an automatic there's a pretty significant sound and feel reinforcing the knowledge that you shifted gears.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

A voice response such as "Reverse - Drive - Neutral - Park" would be a nice feature. Probably overkill, but still nice.

I might like this, it wouldn't be too annoying like leaving a door open and having a 'your door is a-jar' voice since it would only happen during shifting. I have had a couple of times where I was trying to do a really fast 3 pt turn and I will try and do the the D to R too fast and the car will still be in D when I hit the accelerator but even then I only jump about 1-3 feet before I'm back on the brake. almost tapped a curb once. 50 feet+ or however far she drove, I just can't comprehend.

 

[wycolo]

Helicopter pilots use both feet, so my oft repeated solution is not counter to human brain-foot co-ordination capability. On private property the decent thing to do is limit speed to 10 mph max. In fact some jurisdictions have codified such a speed limit.

Based on the above it would not be unseemly for TM to really, really stress (to new owners and in literature):

*** When on private property, i.e. 'off road' use BOTH FEET one on each pedal to negotiate around other cars, curbing, gas pumps, pedestrians, etc. The fact that the muted gong sounds simply means that YOU ARE DRIVING CORRECTLY. The gong does not mean you are doing a wrong thing.

On test drives and when customer takes new car delivery would be good times to personally stress this. Have owner practice this 2 pedal operation with the gong indicating that they are indeed doing it correctly. This will instill in the owner that indeed *the gong is your friend*. Hopefully it might avoid more of these truly embarrassing incidents. And it would allow TM to be pro-active rather than head-in-the-sand.
--

 

[GoBlue88]

There's absolutely no way I can drive a non-stick with both feet after 27 years of 1-foot driving. Not happening.

 

[dsm363]

I can imagine two feet might be better but asking someone who had likely decades of driving experience to change with a new car could open Tesla up to issues if they crash using this 'new' technique.

I don't see how some drives 50+ yards like this either.


Maybe simply taking over left half of odometer display with a big R or D for three seconds would be enough. User could turn this off in settings.

 

[Brass Guy]

I find that my internal clock operates at a different speed than the Tesla's computer. I sit down, hit the brake, shift the lever, and touch the accelerator and nothing happens - because it's still in park. This happens all the time, unless I slow my motions down and wait for the change to be made, and look at it on the dash which is irritating.

Same here. In fact I'm certain I used to start in my ICE quicker than in the MS. As soon as I let go of the starter, I was letting the clutch up. (Always back-in and leave it in 1st.) The seatbelt is the same motion, so no difference there. Without any audible or visual confirmation I have to wait until the display finishes spinning and I actually see "D", or I have to switch back to the brake pedal and hit the selector again. (I'm avoiding using "shifter" or "gear.")

I'd like an audio confirmation, but not a voice. Maybe some sort of click or tone. Something different than the warning chime, and different from the directional click which is nice. And please no repeating beeps like my mom's Prius in reverse, that's really annoying. Maybe a tick for forwards and a tick-tock for reverse. Ooh, customizable sound profiles - we could upload little sound bites to the on-board storage... like warp engines for D, transporter for R, photon for P...

Back to topic - I may have had the selector in the wrong direction once or twice over the last 10 months, but I know I haven't floored the accelerator by mistake. Only on purpose.

 

[mgdurand]

I'd like an audio confirmation, but not a voice. Maybe some sort of click or tone. Something different than the warning chime, and different from the directional click which is nice. And please no repeating beeps like my mom's Prius in reverse, that's really annoying. Maybe a tick for forwards and a tick-tock for reverse. Ooh, customizable sound profiles - we could upload little sound bites to the on-board storage... like warp engines for D, transporter for R, photon for P...

I like that, just a little tone, or even a "tic," would be totally easy to do in software and be perfectly adequate feedback. I'd prefer it to a voice too, and it keeps with he simple aesthetic feel inside the car (which I really like, but that's another thread.) Warp drive option cool too. Sound of gear retraction.

 

[Owner]

Maybe it was this person's first attempt to back into a supercharger? Its not the easiest maneuver.

 

[DavidB]

I almost hate to say this because you know what happens... but I've never had this experience with the Model S or any other car I've driven in the past 39 years of driving.

I lost control of a vehicle because of pedal confusion. Fortunately, it was a riding lawn mower when I was 12 or so years old and I only embarrassed myself with no harm done.

 

[ckessel]

I like that, just a little tone...Warp drive option cool too.

And if you press the accelerator when it's in Neutral it could make the failed warpdrive sound ala the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars

 

[ecarfan]

Maybe it was this person's first attempt to back into a supercharger? Its not the easiest maneuver.

Yes it is particularly tricky to reverse into a Supercharger spot with the car in"D". In fact it is impossible...

 

[dsm363]

And if you press the accelerator when it's in Neutral it could make the failed warpdrive sound ala the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars

And miles would change to parsecs.

 

[ckessel]

And miles would change to parsecs.

And I would make the Kessel run in 12 parses :biggrin:

 

[Pilot_51]

Yes it is particularly tricky to reverse into a Supercharger spot with the car in"D". In fact it is impossible...

I wouldn't say it's impossible, just have a passenger get out and push. Or if there's enough of a slope (doubtful at a SC location), might be able to roll back.