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Autopilot saves the day

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My understanding is that all cars built since late Sep 2014 have the necessary sensors to do AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) and AP (Autopilot). AEB software is present and functional in all those cars. It is not an option. AP is an option and is only functional if the owner pays for it.
Although you were using AP and TACC at the time of the incident, I think what saved you in this case was the AEB. And I'm glad it did.

I think Tesla's terminology lumps all of this stuff under Autopilot, and the fancy non-safety-related features like lane keeping are part of Autopilot Convenience Features. Collision avoidance is described under the Autopilot section of the Model S page, and Autopilot Convenience Features are how the extra $2,500 option is described in the Design Studio.
 
I have a 2-month-old Tesla without AP. If I were driving it in the same conditions shown in the video posted by the OP, would it similarly slam on the brakes? Would I have to be using cruise-control?

Yes, it would. You have automatic emergency braking (as do all Model Ss built after the cutoff in September 2014), but you don't have the convenience features such as traffic-aware cruise control or lane keeping.
 
I do the exact same thing where I drive. There's a lane that ends in about a mile, everyone knows it ends, no one drives in it, but the other 3 lanes are crawling at 5mph. I often do 45mph (speed limit) or more cutting off everyone who's idling pointlessly.

The OP didn't do anything wrong, I don't see why you're all piling on him.
 
I'm confused.
I have a 2-month-old Tesla without AP. If I were driving it in the same conditions shown in the video posted by the OP, would it similarly slam on the brakes? Would I have to be using cruise-control?
I appreciate how this can be confusing. See my post just above, it answers your question.
I consider AEB distinct from AP, all cars built since late Sep 2014 have AEB as standard. AP is an option you have to pay for.
 
I agree. The road is designed to utilize all lanes, the special people hog the lanes that don't end, creating unnecessary traffic backups.

Exactly. In Germany, if nobody uses a lane in a traffic jam, you can (and should!) use the lane and pass everyone dumb enough to use the other lanes. :)

(late merge / zipper method according to Wikipedia.)
 
Which level do you have our emergency braking set to? Of the three, mine is at the mid-level and I think I want mine set the same as yours, because Tesla saved you from injury or death, or at least a huge, inconvenient accident.

You are talking about the alarm, which has 4 settings; mine is always set to "off", because it's annoying.
The AEB can only be either turned on or off. I don't see any point in disabling it, as the OP will wholeheartedly agree with!
 
Have you ever heard of the term called 'defensive driving'? You drive according to the conditions and be watchful of others.

Also note that the other two lanes are courteous enough not to block the intersection for a reason. The actions of those drivers are defeated by someone zooming in at a high differential speed.

Often we have seen on a freeway where the right most lane dropping off and the other two lanes will be in a stand still or crawling at 5 miles stop and go, whereas the (right most) lane that is ending would be very light. The speed limit on those freeways could be 65, but that doesn't mean it is sensible to drive at that speed on that right lane, because there is always someone looking to spring right in front of you by switching lanes.
 
It seems like part of this discussion is the question: What is the speed at which you can avoid a collision if someone does something stupid.

I have been unnerved when driving in a carpool lane at 50mph when the lane to my right is stopped. This is very uncomfortable and probably unsafe, but what is the safe speed?

Answer: There isn't one!

I am very confident of one thing. Most of us, say 99% were we to be put in the position of the OP, would have hit the turning car without the help of the Tesla's automatic braking. 45mph or 25mph, the collision would have very likely happened.
 
That's actually not how it works. By cutting in at the last moment you are actually contributing far more to the backup than if you had merged in earlier with everyone else.

Proof? From everything I read that's exactly how it works. The road was designed to alleviate traffic in certain areas, they add an extra lane for it.

Now, what I think you're alluding to, is when a new road opens, and normal traffic patterns shift, the old road sometimes gets more topic, which is unexpected.

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That's actually not how it works. By cutting in at the last moment you are actually contributing far more to the backup than if you had merged in earlier with everyone else.

Some light reading about why the lane should be used. If everyone used it and zipper merged, I wouldn't speed in an empty lane and it'd be better for traffic. No one uses the lane, they're doing it wrong...

The Right Way to Merge Lanes to Avoid Traffic-Induced Road Rage
 
Proof? From everything I read that's exactly how it works. The road was designed to alleviate traffic in certain areas, they add an extra lane for it.

Now, what I think you're alluding to, is when a new road opens, and normal traffic patterns shift, the old road sometimes gets more topic, which is unexpected.

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Some light reading about why the lane should be used. If everyone used it and zipper merged, I wouldn't speed in an empty lane and it'd be better for traffic. No one uses the lane, they're doing it wrong...

The Right Way to Merge Lanes to Avoid Traffic-Induced Road Rage

Yes, but that's a different situation you're describing now. When everyone has collectively decided to merge at the point where two lanes narrow to one, then yes zippering every other car at that point is the optimal flow.

But the situation you described earlier, that I was responding to, is the case where everyone has collectively decided to merge at a point earlier than the narrowing point. For what ever reason. For you to be the rare car that decides to zip up to the front in that case, well you might feel like you're setting an example and hoping everyone else will change their behavior, but I can assure you that's not what everyone else is thinking about you and thus not likely to influence their behavior at all.
 
e situation you described earlier, that I was responding to, is the case where everyone has collectively decided to merge at a point earlier than the narrowing point. For what ever reason. For you to be the rare car that decides to zip up to the front in that case, well you might feel like you're setting an example and hoping everyone else will change their behavior, but I can assure you that's not what everyone else is thinking about you and thus not likely to influence their behavior at all.

^^^This.
 
Yes, but that's a different situation you're describing now. When everyone has collectively decided to merge at the point where two lanes narrow to one, then yes zippering every other car at that point is the optimal flow.

But the situation you described earlier, that I was responding to, is the case where everyone has collectively decided to merge at a point earlier than the narrowing point. For what ever reason. For you to be the rare car that decides to zip up to the front in that case, well you might feel like you're setting an example and hoping everyone else will change their behavior, but I can assure you that's not what everyone else is thinking about you and thus not likely to influence their behavior at all.

We're going to have to agree to disagree.

It's the same principle. When the traffic engineers added a lane that ends, they didn't do it to cause more traffic, they did it to alleviate traffic so that people would use it.

I don't care what they think. I'm using the lane the way it was intended, your argument was that I'm causing more traffic, which I'm not based on the link I gave you. You still didn't give me any proof besides "I said so" that I'm causing more traffic.

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Here's the situation I'm taking about, same concept. Click his links. Which are more scientific than a redditors opinion.

If you have any article for me to read as to why I'm wrong, I'll gladly do it. But I'm not going around waving my hands and saying "because I said so"

https://m.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/16tvks/would_traffic_move_better_when_a_lane_ends_if/