AutoPilot track record is great so far

The AP enabled fleet accumulates about ~1M miles per day in total miles (not autosteer enabled, but total miles traveled) and it seems like there are several who are using it daily. So yeah, I'd agree!

 

Problem is, who knows what is not being reported. There may have been accidents, injuries even deaths but it is a honor system to report it here and then it is likely whoever reported would get lambasted for abusing AP so nobody will. Now if there were a way to anonymously make the report with details and then marketed as such that would be of tremendous value. No doubt Tesla knows but they would never share.

 

Um...no.

 

I was using autopilot yesterday on beltway 8 in Houston when three cars had a pile-up in the lane to my left. It was bumper to bumper, everybody was going about 75 mph, and suddenly traffic slowed (normal occurrence during rush hour). I was in the middle lane and had the distance set to 7, so I looked up when my car started slowing. I saw the three cars slam into each other. The car in the middle of the sandwich somehow got turned around and slammed into the concrete barrier on his left and continued to spin coming a full 360 degree circle before stopping. I ended up getting a piece of metal in my right rear tire as I drove through the debri field. I checked my tire pressures and three were at 47 but the right rear was at 43 and dropped to 42 as I watched. Fortunately there was a Discount Tire at the next exit and they fixed it after I waited an hour. Tire pressure was ok this morning.

 

What were you looking at that you had to look up when the car started to automatically slow?

 

My phone - I was reading a book. (in Kindle app)

 

Oops.

But your post shows how AP is going to quickly get used in real life. And even though you're definitely not alone in letting AP handle more than the disclaimer suggests still there haven't been accidents reported due to AP. Impressive.

 

Seriously?

 

I agree, I mean who is going to buy the car for autopilot if they have to "keep both hands on the wheel and be ready to take over at any moment"? NOBODY. I didn't! If I had seen this disclaimer before buying I would have kept my 2013! Now that I have it, I'm going to use it as I intended. I lost more than $30k trading my 2013 for a 2015 for autopilot. No way I'm driving down the road with both hands on the wheel in autopilot mode. I mean, what the hell would even be the point of having autopilot on if you drove that way?

 

Speechless.

 

Oh yes, seriously. I think I was writing while you posted this, so see my other post. But what use is autopilot if you have to drive while using it? If you have both hands on the wheel and ready to take over, guess what!!! YOU'RE DRIVING!!!

 

Wow. For the sake of the person or people you're going to kill (which might include you), please stop.

 

Hey, it's your life you're taking risks with. Best of luck.


I'm not posting this to change your mind, more of... I don't want some random person coming here and assuming "Hey Electricfan is reading while driving, that must be what Elon intended!".

AP is not autonomous, you're still 100% liable for anything that can happen. You're also liable to get a ticket if the officer assumes you're texting, and saying "but officer, I was actually just reading a book" isn't' going to work.

AP isn't autonomous, it makes mistakes, has no redundancies, and if you're reading, you wont have enough time to react.

While I don't keep my hands on the wheel at all times (though often I do, just because it feels natural), I try not to take my eyes off the road. Big distinction there, I have no issues with someone not having their hands on the wheel, I have issues where someone wants to read a book while AP is driving.

There are a lot of stupid people on the road which AP can not handle, so if you're at least watching the road, you have a higher chance of avoiding an accident. Sure it wont be your fault, but no accident is better than a non-at-fault accident.

And lastly, driving with AP is not the same fatigue wise as driving. It's a lot easier to watch the road but not make adjustments to the steering wheel to stay in lane, vs. being in full control of the car.

/soapbox

 

on stretches of highway roads, on a clear day where you know that AP is doing extremely well - what is wrong in taking your eyes off from the road?

If the car gets into accident, most likely you will also get into that accident anyway if you were driving and less so with AP.

 

Before someone takes my comment and says you can't blink, because that's taking your eyes off the road, that's obviously not how I meant it. Now to answer:

Would you take a nap with AP running at 70mph?

Depends on the accident. On average, yes AP will likely do a better job than a person, but AP doesn't have enough sensors to detect everything. It might not avoid someone cutting you off and brake-checking (just a random what-if scenario).

 

Brake-checking is what I worry about. Houston drivers will do that - assume you want to keep from hitting them so you'll slam on the brakes when they pull over on top of you. I guess if that happens I'll be the first accident on autopilot. But if someone pulls over on top of me, they are hitting me. I'm driving along in my lane and they hit me. That's not my fault, and hopefully I'll have my dashcam on so I can prove it.

 

Keep in mind that AP has no pedestrian detection right now, no ability to see debris on the road, and no ability to recognize manual traffic control (ie construction zone, police officer, etc). All things you can do easily if you're watching what you're doing.

If you want to read a book, wait for autonomous vehicles.