Auto pilot on navigation on high way sudden slow down, van behind me almost rear ended me

[ThatMike]

Auto pilot on navigation was on for at least 20 minutes without any issues, then auto pilot decided to sudden slow down (still straight), an utility van almost rear ended me. When this happened, both left and right lanes were clear no vehicles, the car in front of me did not slow down. There was no reason to slow down but somehow auto pilot decided to sudden slow down, luckily, it still kept straight. The van behind me quickly switched lane to the left and avoided the crash.

This has happened a couple times already, but all were FSD on local (less then 60 kilometer / hour roads), not on highway (100+).

Sent message to tesla, here is the response.

Software version is 2022.44.30.5

Our team has reviewed the data you submitted and also performed a hardware check remotely to confirm there are no faults with the driver's assistant features,all systems reported no
faults.

Having said that Traffic-Aware Cruise Control may occasionally cause the vehicle to brake when not required or when you are not expecting it.This can be caused by closely following a vehicle ahead,detecting vehicles or objects in adjacent lanes (especially on curves), etc.

This does not indicate there is an issue with the hardware of the vehicle but rather expected behaviour of a vehicle system which is still in the beta testing phase.

If you have any other concerns about the behaviour,limitations and features of autopilotpa refer to the owner's manual Given that there is no need to have a technician attend the vehicle we will cancel the upcoming appointment. Please feel free to respond to this message if you have any questions.

This is very similar to SF Bay accident, except in my case the steering wheel kept straight.

 

[Tam]

...no faults...

I guess that's the routine script to answer and there's no urgency to fix it.

 

[IGotMine]

I had the same experience last month driving in the desert with nothing in front of me, in broad daylight, on a straight stretch of road and at speeds from 90 to 120 km/h. Last week, driving in the desert again, the same thing happened. Luckily, I had no cars close behind me.
No issues last spring going over the same terrain.

 

[ThatMike]

I had the same experience last month driving in the desert with nothing in front of me, in broad daylight, on a straight stretch of road and at speeds from 90 to 120 km/h. Last week, driving in the desert again, the same thing happened. Luckily, I had no cars close behind me.
No issues last spring going over the same terrain.

Did you report?

This is very dangerous, almost no time to respond. Usually my foot is close to brake when I am cruising. In this case, the best is to do is accelerate?

 

[emmz0r]

Might be bad speed limit data in the maps.
Tesla won't fix this. They get the map data from a 3rd party, and they basically told me that they won't correct it.

 

[EVNow]

Auto pilot on navigation was on for at least 20 minutes without any issues, then auto pilot decided to sudden slow down (still straight), an utility van almost rear ended me.

What did you do ? If you see this happen, you should intervene and push the accelerator. Always be vigilant and monitor for your safety.

 

[EV1LBONG]

Did you report?

This is very dangerous, almost no time to respond. Usually my foot is close to brake when I am cruising. In this case, the best is to do is accelerate?

In my experience, when AP or beta is engaged, the foot is much better positioned above the accelerator to avoid this very scenario from happening... in the few cases where braking is required, it's easy to disengage at which time regen will start significantly slowing the car even before your foot quickly moves over to the brake pedal to assist.

Edit: also if someone is tailgating me at freeway speeds, I typically try to get them off my tail and when that fails, I disengage just because it feels nerve wracking and dangerous

 

[Snerruc]

In my experience, when AP or beta is engaged, the foot is much better positioned above the accelerator to avoid this very scenario from happening... in the few cases where braking is required, it's easy to disengage at which time regen will start significantly slowing the car even before your foot quickly moves over to the brake pedal to assist.

Edit: also if someone is tailgating me at freeway speeds, I typically try to get them off my tail and when that fails, I disengage just because it feels nerve wracking and dangerous

This is why I’ve pretty much stopped using Autopilot and even TACC. TACC has started doing the same thing on some roads.

 

[pwlorraine]

Same thing happened to me driving across I90 between Buffalo and Schenectady. On at least three occasions, while driving at 75 in a 65 zone on FSD, the car abruptly slowed down. It seemed when this happened the max speed set decreased to 65.

Other comment, FSD takes exits way too fast.

 

[ThatMike]

Other comment, FSD takes exits way too fast.

Yes! way too fast!

 

[ThatMike]

In my experience, when AP or beta is engaged, the foot is much better positioned above the accelerator to avoid this very scenario from happening... in the few cases where braking is required, it's easy to disengage at which time regen will start significantly slowing the car even before your foot quickly moves over to the brake pedal to assist.

Edit: also if someone is tailgating me at freeway speeds, I typically try to get them off my tail and when that fails, I disengage just because it feels nerve wracking and dangerous

What if cars on the left or right cut in and AP/FSD does not brake in time? In this case we will have to brake, instead of accelerate. Not all drivers can do this faster enough to avoid crash.

 

[PVia]

Same thing happened to me driving across I90 between Buffalo and Schenectady. On at least three occasions, while driving at 75 in a 65 zone on FSD, the car abruptly slowed down. It seemed when this happened the max speed set decreased to 65.

Other comment, FSD takes exits way too fast.

You don't mean FSD, right? You mean Navigate on Autopilot. FSD doesn't work on highways...

 

[Tam]

You don't mean FSD, right? You mean Navigate on Autopilot. FSD doesn't work on highways...

That's how some people would characterize the 8 car pile up on San Francisco: it's not FSD as claimed by the driver, it's Autopilot because FSD doesn't work on freeways!

The problem is: If an owner doesn't pay FSD and only gets the free Autopilot, the car cannot perform an Auto Lane Change. If FSD is paid, the car can do an Auto Lane Change.

Paying FSD would allow Auto Lane Change in the city as well as highways.

Paying FSD doesn't mean Auto Lane Change can work in the city only and doesn't work on highways.

 

[derotam]

What if cars on the left or right cut in and AP/FSD does not brake in time? In this case we will have to brake, instead of accelerate. Not all drivers can do this faster enough to avoid crash.

I look at the whole where to put my foot this way... First, because of unwanted slowdowns for various reasons, I keep my foot over the accelerator to lessen the impact of those events. second, and I think more applicable to help with the people who want to hover over the brake...

In an ICE car when you are driving, where is your foot when not on cruise control? It's on the accelerator...but no one complains about not being able to get to the brake in time...

Now for cruise control in an ICE, well really most any car...where is your foot? I'll say probably over/near the brake...but why? Because it is an easy way to stop the cruise control, AND it doesn't cause a big slowdown event at the time of disengagement...BUT you are probably going to be moving back to the accelerator pretty quickly to maintain speed.

If, given that in either an ICE or a Tesla, you keep your hands on the wheel, then disengaging TACC in a Tesla is an easy flick of the right stalk, and your foot being over the accelerator allows you to avoid a usually unnecessary abrupt regen induced slowdown. I would say that normally, needing to disengage any form of cruise control, there is no need to slow down abruptly.

 

[PVia]

That's how some people would characterize the 8 car pile up on San Francisco: it's not FSD as claimed by the driver, it's Autopilot because FSD doesn't work on freeways!

The problem is: If an owner doesn't pay FSD and only gets the free Autopilot, the car cannot perform an Auto Lane Change. If FSD is paid, the car can do an Auto Lane Change.

Paying FSD would allow Auto Lane Change in the city as well as highways.

Paying FSD doesn't mean Auto Lane Change can work in the city only and doesn't work on highways.

Once again, there is a nomenclature problem here.
Enhanced Autopilot will perform an Auto Lane Change , driver initiated or vehicle initiated, depending on the settings.
At the present time, if you purchase FSD, you automatically get the Enhanced Autopilot functions.
FSD does NOT allow lane changes or Auto Steer in city driving. That function is unique to FSD Beta.

 

[Tam]

...FSD does NOT allow lane changes or Auto Steer in city driving. That function is unique to FSD Beta.

I paid FSD and my 2017 Model X with MCU 1 and HW2.0 had been able to do an Auto Lane Change in both freeways and city streets for years even before I upgraded to MCU2 and HW3.0.

Same with my former 2018 Model 3 with MCU2 and HW2.5.

Money talks. Free Autopilot doesn't allow Auto Lane Change in anywhere. When people paid for FSD, Auto Lane Change is active in both freeways and city streets.

 

[PVia]

Just so I understand...how was that possible in 2017-2018? I'm not being a jerk, I truly want to understand the past timetable of Tesla releases and capabilities.

Here's an article from 2020:

Tesla to release Autopilot lane changing on city streets soon

Tesla will release Autopilot’s “Automatic Lane Change on City Streets” functionality in a few months, CEO Elon Musk said. On July 20, Musk revealed that the company would be releasing the feature “in a few months in production release.” The release of the self-driving characteristic would...

www.teslarati.com

 

[IGotMine]

Did you report?

This is very dangerous, almost no time to respond. Usually my foot is close to brake when I am cruising. In this case, the best is to do is accelerate?

How does one report? Through the app or where?

One needs to act preemptively if another driver is following too closely: slow down to let them pass, or accelerate to put a great distance between. I stay alert and keep track of what’s behind as well as ahead of me.
I did accelerate, and following a second instance, I took complete control. I haven’t had this occur in Washington state where trees populate the landscape. I’ll just assume “I’ve been put on notice.“

 

[Dewg]

How does one report? Through the app or where?

One needs to act preemptively if another driver is following too closely: slow down to let them pass, or accelerate to put a great distance between. I stay alert and keep track of what’s behind as well as ahead of me.
I did accelerate, and following a second instance, I took complete control. I haven’t had this occur in Washington state where trees populate the landscape. I’ll just assume “I’ve been put on notice.“

In previous versions, there was a report button (looked like a camera icon) you would press after an intervention or disengagement. In current versions there is no report button. You intervening or disengaging the system via steering wheel takeover or brake pedal will flag the incident. If Tesla is looking for data regarding a maneuver, your car will upload the data when it connects to WiFi.

 

[ThatMike]

In previous versions, there was a report button (looked like a camera icon) you would press after an intervention or disengagement. In current versions there is no report button. You intervening or disengaging the system via steering wheel takeover or brake pedal will flag the incident. If Tesla is looking for data regarding a maneuver, your car will upload the data when it connects to WiFi.

That's good to know.