Blind spot, close calls - do I need camera adjusted?

[LEBSD]

I just received my 2021 MY, has about 220 miles now. I get it that the primary safety mechanism is to always use your mirrors, and I did that otherwise my Tesla would have been in a body shop already. I was expecting that with so many cameras and radars that this car blind spot would be much better. I read the radars are only use at very low speeds, so they must be relying on the cameras. I have looked at many diagrams showing the radar/camera coverage and should easily achieve a 360 deg. With this said, I only get a warning when the car is about the rear passenger back door, ie as it passes next to me the lane line and car goes red (too late). I have noticed the display only shows the car on each side behind me when the car-front is just about next to my rear bumper, but the camera coverage diagrams should see it more distant behind me.

Not certain if this issue is by design, or unique to my car. I am assuming the calibration mode is just to train the software for object recognition but does not actually change the angle of the camera. Should I have service check the camera angles?

 

[glide]

I just received my 2021 MY, has about 220 miles now. I get it that the primary safety mechanism is to always use your mirrors, and I did that otherwise my Tesla would have been in a body shop already. I was expecting that with so many cameras and radars that this car blind spot would be much better. I read the radars are only use at very low speeds, so they must be relying on the cameras. I have looked at many diagrams showing the radar/camera coverage and should easily achieve a 360 deg. With this said, I only get a warning when the car is about the rear passenger back door, ie as it passes next to me the lane line and car goes red (too late). I have noticed the display only shows the car on each side behind me when the car-front is just about next to my rear bumper, but the camera coverage diagrams should see it more distant behind me.

Not certain if this issue is by design, or unique to my car. I am assuming the calibration mode is just to train the software for object recognition but does not actually change the angle of the camera. Should I have service check the camera angles?

Tesla has worst-in-class blind spot monitoring.

 

[LEBSD]

Tesla has worst-in-class blind spot monitoring.

I was reading that also, including the danger of using autopilot on a merging lane, learned that the hard way when my car did not know that a truck was almost next to my bumper and suddenly cut fast in front. What will help (which my Honda Pilot has but only on the right turn) is when I put the turn signal, the screen switches to the camera and shows tick marks of how far away. The newest software release I read should have the cameras enabled, but perhaps misread it or miss a setup because the only way I can get the cameras to display is by pressing the camera on the screen, not when I put the signal.

 

[glide]

I was reading that also, including the danger of using autopilot on a merging lane, learned that the hard way when my car did not know that a truck was almost next to my bumper and suddenly cut fast in front. What will help (which my Honda Pilot has but only on the right turn) is when I put the turn signal, the screen switches to the camera and shows tick marks of how far away. The newest software release I read should have the cameras enabled, but perhaps misread it or miss a setup because the only way I can get the cameras to display is by pressing the camera on the screen, not when I put the signal.

Camera-on-signal is not viable due to the lighting arrangement in Tesla’s.

I don’t see how software is going to fix this problem after 5+ years.

 

[captanzuelo]

Camera-on-signal is not viable due to the lighting arrangement in Tesla’s.

I don’t see how software is going to fix this problem after 5+ years.

Not sure what lighting arrangement you are referring to.

As long as I am in control of any car, I will be shoulder checking(line of sight vision in addition to mirrors) before merging into any lane.

 

[glide]

Not sure what lighting arrangement you are referring to.

As long as I am in control of any car, I will be shoulder checking(line of sight vision in addition to mirrors) before merging into any lane.

The lights on the side body cameras when the blinker is activated blind the camera at night. That is one of the (hardware) reasons the “feature” has not been activated.

 

[Clark_Kent]

This is a known issue in MY - can't speak for other Tesla vehicles. You cannot solely rely on blind spot monitoring in this vehicle for lane changes. Taking it in for service will do you no good.

 

[gundarx]

solution I did was to swap out side mirrors on my 2020 (no auto-dimming).. the difference is significant https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotor...urce=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

 

[captanzuelo]

The lights on the side body cameras when the blinker is activated blind the camera at night. That is one of the (hardware) reasons the “feature” has not been activated.

well if thats what you're referring to, then it is "viable" at least 50% of the time(when the light blinks off). lol

 

[glide]

well if thats what you're referring to, then it is "viable" at least 50% of the time(when the light blinks off). lol

Which, again, makes it worst-in-class.

 

[2020]

solution I did was to swap out side mirrors on my 2020 (no auto-dimming).. the difference is significant https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotor...urce=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Agree with the above. Was very frustrated with near misses using the rear and side mirrors (no turning of head). Switching out the side mirrors made a huge difference, no issue with blind spots while changing lanes.

 

[WADan]

Agree with the above. Was very frustrated with near misses using the rear and side mirrors (no turning of head). Switching out the side mirrors made a huge difference, no issue with blind spots while changing lanes.

You don’t need to swap out your mirrors, just need to adjust and use them properly.
Here is a good video explaining how it’s done

P.S: there is a thread here in this forum discussing how to fix MY driver side mirror not moving over enough, i have this issue on mine, and after fixing it, I can see exactly like the video (which I have always been able to do on all my other cars)

 

[NorCalJBB]

I was literally saved from catastrophe when driving my new MY home from the dealership just before Christmas 2020; and went to merge onto freeway. Thinking next lane was open, I turned on blinker and started to move into the #1 lane but I got warning signals. Thankfully so, as there was a vehicle about to pass me on the left, which I couldn't see in the blind spot. Previous vehicle had much larger rear-view mirrors and convex smaller mirrors additionally I had installed. Needless to say, I purchased such convex mirrors and installed them onto my MY mirrors, which has been a big boon to my navigating busy CA freeways. Will now look into larger replacement mirrors, as I miss the big ones I had on my Outlander. Thanks much for this discussion and all the replies. Happy Tesla motoring!

 

[gundarx]

You don’t need to swap out your mirrors, just need to adjust and use them properly.
Here is a good video explaining how it’s done

P.S: there is a thread here in this forum discussing how to fix MY driver side mirror not moving over enough, i have this issue on mine, and after fixing it, I can see exactly like the video (which I have always been able to do on all my other cars)

For my Model 3 and Y, I set the mirrors to the furthest away from seeing the body of the car. On the Y in particular which has a less wide mirror than the 3, this is not enough and has led to a few near-misses until the mirror was replaced (my OEM Model 3 mirror is sufficient). The ramp entering I-405 S from NE 10th St in Bellevue is always a problem with cars going beyond the speed limit on the lane next to the highway entrance, and cars making a quick dash to merge into that lane from across other lanes to get to the next exit.

 

[captanzuelo]

Im confused. Half of you guys seem to not shoulder check when switching lanes. Now its starting to make sense, thinking back to my 20’s when I used to ride motorcycles. It wasn’t inattention or murderous intent when all those cars swerved into my lane. It was simply drivers not checking their blind spots!

 

[NorCalJBB]

For my Model 3 and Y, I set the mirrors to the furthest away from seeing the body of the car. On the Y in particular which has a less wide mirror than the 3, this is not enough and has led to a few near-misses until the mirror was replaced (my OEM Model 3 mirror is sufficient). The ramp entering I-405 S from NE 10th St in Bellevue is always a problem with cars going beyond the speed limit on the lane next to the highway entrance, and cars making a quick dash to merge into that lane from across other lanes to get to the next exit.

Thanks much. Will give these tips a go.

 

[Nats]

I just received my 2021 MY, has about 220 miles now. I get it that the primary safety mechanism is to always use your mirrors, and I did that otherwise my Tesla would have been in a body shop already. I was expecting that with so many cameras and radars that this car blind spot would be much better. I read the radars are only use at very low speeds, so they must be relying on the cameras. I have looked at many diagrams showing the radar/camera coverage and should easily achieve a 360 deg. With this said, I only get a warning when the car is about the rear passenger back door, ie as it passes next to me the lane line and car goes red (too late). I have noticed the display only shows the car on each side behind me when the car-front is just about next to my rear bumper, but the camera coverage diagrams should see it more distant behind me.

Not certain if this issue is by design, or unique to my car. I am assuming the calibration mode is just to train the software for object recognition but does not actually change the angle of the camera. Should I have service check the camera angles?

I just got my MY also and have 233 miles so far and same like you missed fender bender cause i just looked over shoulder and avoided very scary you assume for a very high tech car like this you would get this very safety feature first, No you do not get this blind spot feature unless you get FSD only another $10k and i had assumed same thing maybe some minor adjustment, so booked a service call and was informed you do not get this unless you have full FSD only, i hope they will have some sort of upgrade for this taken for granted feature, also I had taken maybe 6-7 test drive and they all have blind spot very deceptive as the tech mentioned all test cars have full FSD thats why I believe they should inform you of this before you purchase car so you know weather to buy FSD or low tech concave mirrors or have cameras on all the time for this, very deceptive for this taken for granted feature.

 

[frankvb]

Having FSD or not is unrelated to the blind spot and other safety systems. Whoever told you that was wrong.

Having said that, as other posters already confirmed, the blind spot monitor system on the Tesla is the worst one of any vehicle I have every driven equipped with that. The only saving grace is that at the moment you are about to steer into another vehicle in the next lane there will be a loud warning signal (and it will try to steer you back into your lane).

 

[RickCRNA]

Swapping out the MY stock mirrors for Suma Performance mirrors has greatly alleviated my blind spot anxiety.

 

[captanzuelo]

Just make it a habit to look over your shoulder before starting any merge! This whole thread about drivers relying on blind spot detection for merging is very troubling. With drivers like these so common, its a wonder more cars aren't just bouncing off each other like bumper cars on the freeways!