Blind Spot [I want a chime for blind spot warning]

[Candleflame]

Nice assumption. Nope, I am always aware of my surroundings and check my mirrors constantly. I have never once in my life had to turn my head to ensure clearance, and yes I use blinkers.



Actually the people that turn their head backwards would be more likely to slow down as a precaution, thus causing slower speeds (and a significant decrease in speed for others behind him in heavy traffic).

Either way, it is fairly clear and obvious it would be safer to glance at a camera with a 100% view of the side of the car for several lanes to the side and behind, than to shoulder check.

lol no. maybe i should invite you to the UK M1 or our autobahn. LOL.

 

[Cary]

I could not agree more. Tesla just needs to have the BMS behave like other designs: turn the traffic red if it’s a threat, yell when the turn signal is selected. No need to reinvent the wheel. Simple software change. It is useless in its current form.

Unacceptable design flaw for any car, no less one of this caliber. I am seriously considering selling my 2018 model S due to its lack of blind spot monitoring. It should audibly activate with the turn signal, if there’s a vehicle in your blind spot.
And for those who find a sound to be annoying.. just turn it off.

 

[E90alex]

My VW Golf R didn’t chime but the steering wheel would nudge you back if you tried to change lanes and it sensed a car in your blind spot, along with the blinking yellow light in the mirror.

I really liked that since beeping can get annoying and the steering nudge wasn’t very intrusive and easily overpowered if you wanted to override it.

I had rented a Miata once with blind spot warning and it would beep and blink at me at annoying times like making a left turn from the second lane of a double turn lane.

 

[DopeGhoti]

I find it fascinating that so many people in this thread are equating "the blind spot monitoring is not presented in the way I would like" with "there is no blind spot monitoring". This is a distinction that is important to keep in mind - one loses credibility with one's valid complaints when using false reasoning to explain them.

 

[Blackbart]

my previous bmw 4 series had an awesome blind spot warning system. The mirrors had an LED to indicate if there's a car on your side. If you also set the blinkers in that direction while a car is next to you, the LEDs would flash and the steering wheel would subtly vibrate. No annoying audible warning. The steering wheel vibration thing was a very smart move imo and the system was highly accurate with very less false positives. Every time I drive another car I miss this. Haven't gotten my M3 yet, but I wish Tesla would've thought of something similar.

I agree 1000% with this. I only drove a loaner with that BMW system once (it as a very base car) and it was ideal. But I’ve also driven Hyundai’s etc with far better systems than the M3. The sad thing is the Tesla has everything it would need to recreate the BMW system (well except t for the arrow in the mirror) but for some reason they won’t pull the trigger. To me saying “just adjust the mirrors” (which I have done on all my cars) is like saying “why do you need airbags if you’ve got a seatbelt?”

 

[Blackbart]

I agree, my Mercedes Benz does it, my Audi does it, why would Model Y not warn me if I turn on my signal on that there's a vehicle right behind to me? It's the minimum expected from modern vehicles these days....

Yeah the Tesla system is a hot mess. The red car thing is not emphatic enough and wildly inaccurate (sometimes showing cars two ones over as red - sometimes not showing a car clearly in the blind spot as red. The mythical beep has (in my car) occurred exactly one time (in 20,000 miles of city driving). It just shouldn’t be that hard to offer a 100% reliable and effective option (that of course people could turn off).

 

[Syclone35]

And don't even remind me of the total lack of a RCTAS (rear cross traffic alert system).

 

[Gulfcoaster]

I could not agree more. Tesla just needs to have the BMS behave like other designs: turn the traffic red if it’s a threat, yell when the turn signal is selected. No need to reinvent the wheel. Simple software change. It is useless in its current form.

I agree. Surprised its not a fed law yet

 

[Scubadriver]

I agree 1000% with this. I only drove a loaner with that BMW system once (it as a very base car) and it was ideal. But I’ve also driven Hyundai’s etc with far better systems than the M3. The sad thing is the Tesla has everything it would need to recreate the BMW system (well except t for the arrow in the mirror) but for some reason they won’t pull the trigger. To me saying “just adjust the mirrors” (which I have done on all my cars) is like saying “why do you need airbags if you’ve got a seatbelt?”

Yeah, but those cars don't make fart noises or have Caraoke. Keep up the good work, Elon.

 

[DopeGhoti]

I agree. Surprised its not a fed law yet

I'm not.

Seat belts were first offered as an option by Ford in the mid-1950s. They were exceedingly unpopular. It was several years before another manufacturer (Saab) started including them as standard equipment.

The first compulsory seat belt law wasn't in the books until Australia did so in Victoria in 1970. Three years passed before Australia went national with the law. The US waited until 1980 at the Federal level (Wisconsin gets the nod for being first past the post in 1961). And even then, some smoothbrains took it upon themselves to literally cut the belts out of their cars. The US still only Federally has seat belt laws because each state has its own law- there is no Federal requirement to wear one.

See also adoption of motorcycle helmets.

So we're looking at a turnaround of thirty years from invention to compulsory loadout.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Seat belts were first offered as an option by Ford in the mid-1950s. They were exceedingly unpopular. It was several years before another manufacturer (Saab) started including them as standard equipment.

According to The Surprisingly Controversial History Of Seat Belts , Nash Motors offered seat belts in their cars in 1949.

Through mergers and acquisitions, Nash is now part of Stellantis (through AMC, Chrysler, FCA).

 

[DopeGhoti]

I will cheerfully concede that there are better-sourced histories than Wikipedia.

 

[youngmcdonald]

It is probably the absence of proper life saving systems (Blind spot and Rear Cross Traffic) that I decided to forego my next car to be a Tesla. Traffic is crazy and reckless where I live, and Tesla does NOT have these two systems. What they have doesn’t qualify. I absolutely rely on manual blind spot check every time, and mirror settings don’t help me because I am tall. Tesla’s Model 3 mirrors are not friendly toward tall people. That said, it is inexcusable to not have a sophisticated chime system / visual system for it.

 

[TBrownTX]

It is probably the absence of proper life saving systems (Blind spot and Rear Cross Traffic) that I decided to forego my next car to be a Tesla. Traffic is crazy and reckless where I live, and Tesla does NOT have these two systems. What they have doesn’t qualify. I absolutely rely on manual blind spot check every time, and mirror settings don’t help me because I am tall. Tesla’s Model 3 mirrors are not friendly toward tall people. That said, it is inexcusable to not have a sophisticated chime system / visual system for it.

I just don't feel that strongly about these two features. I've been driving for 35 years without them. Too much goodness with the Tesla to get all worked up about these couple of safety features. Turn and look, back in, problem solved.

Tim

 

[DopeGhoti]

I do agree that the mirrors are too limited in their range of possible configurations to accommodate people of tall stature. The repeater cameras more than make up for this however, at least for me. There is nothing wrong whatsoever for deciding that a Tesla is not for you given its feature set. It's okay to not like things.

 

[3sr+buyer]

I do agree that the mirrors are too limited in their range of possible configurations to accommodate people of tall stature. The repeater cameras more than make up for this however, at least for me. There is nothing wrong whatsoever for deciding that a Tesla is not for you given its feature set. It's okay to not like things.

My previous cars have been smaller cars with apparently bigger side mirrors. The Model 3 side mirrors seem to be rather small. I can adjust them to avoid overlapping blind spots, but they have a narrower range of settings that do this than in the previous cars. I can see a long legged person also being limited by the range of adjustment when attempting to adjust them this way.

Regarding the additional blind spot devices, the camera display can be helpful, but some drivers understandably prefer the warning indicator in the mirror (or an extra convex mirror that was used in some Ford cars and is typical on large truck tractors) where they tend to be looking at anyway when about to change lanes (the center screen is not a normal place to look). The same criticism was written about Honda's Lane Watch, which was the same thing from about a decade ago, but only on the passenger side for some reason.

 

[tlr1000]

Tesla could easily implement a bright yellow warning light on the 'virtual' mirror. Make that and audible warning a user-selectable feature.

 

[DopeGhoti]

Tesla could easily implement a bright yellow warning light on the 'virtual' mirror. Make that and audible warning a user-selectable feature.

You mean like how when a car is detected and the turning indicator is on, the lane and detected car and lane turn bright red on the MFD and the car chimes like crazy as you approach the lane line? Because that's a thing. Hence my earlier post about the lack of credibility I lend people saying that there is "no [emphasis mine] blind spot monitoring".

 

[mswlogo]

I find it fascinating that so many people in this thread are equating "the blind spot monitoring is not presented in the way I would like" with "there is no blind spot monitoring". This is a distinction that is important to keep in mind - one loses credibility with one's valid complaints when using false reasoning to explain them.

It’s just that many think the way it is implemented is useless. I agree it’s not zero and it has caught me screwing up.

I’ve come to realize FSD it is a true alternate to blind spot warning. It won’t change lanes until the lane is clear. No beeping needed

That’s what partly justified my purchasing FSD for the 3rd time. Lack of Blind Spot warning (ahead of time) is moot when running AP with FSD.

Now if they would just implement a rear cross path with cameras I’d be in heaven. No it won’t be as good as Radar based rear cross path but I think it could help quite a bit.

 

[tlr1000]

You mean like how when a car is detected and the turning indicator is on, the lane and detected car and lane turn bright red on the MFD and the car chimes like crazy as you approach the lane line? Because that's a thing. Hence my earlier post about the lack of credibility I lend people saying that there is "no [emphasis mine] blind spot monitoring".

No, that's not what I mean. People are used to a bright yellow warning light. That's what I mean. As @mswlogo says, many people do not like the current implementation which I believe is why this thread was started. I don't think anyone denies there is some lane-change warning system in place, it's just not at a level some people want it to be compared to what many cars already have. I do recognize that there are some owners perfectly happy with the current implementation as well. I think there's room for improvement.