Can't use AP when wife is in car

[harcocjh]

So I know the limitations of autopilot pretty well now after having the car for a month and a half and I accept them and remain vigilant. AP works well for me for the most part. Especially my commute to and from work where it's mostly stop and go traffic. Biggest issues with it are the false positive braking events. I have had a couple on my own. Usually when going under an overpass on a sunny day and I've had a few with my wife in the car unfortunately. Just last night I had it on and as we approached a semi in the lane to the right of us it braked fairly hard and I had to press the accelerator. I tried to explain to her that I am cautious of these and why they happen but she feels it's now unsafe to use autopilot unless going slow like during my commute.

So basically I can't use autopilot while she's in the car as to not scar her if it happens again. But I'm still going to use it on my own and just continue to use it properly and be cautious. Especially in area's where I know it may have issues like going under overpasses. Hopefully they sort out these more alarming issues soon! But overall I love the car and I really enjoy autopilot. It reduces the stress of my hour plus commute a quite a bit. Anyone have similar issues and reactions by their significant others?

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

My life likes to jerk the wheel to disable it. #thanksWife This results in me losing my lunch...

 

[Eldanon]

Are these phantom braking incidents consistent or random? Meaning if you're driving under the same overpass in the same weather, will it always break in the same spot or not so much? Thanks!

 

[boaterva]

My GF used to hate it back in September because of the jerky disconnects and rapid deceleration; said it hurt her neck. Recently, she loves it (and we have a planned Model 3 for her). The much improved 2018.10.4 and 2018.20 have won her over.

As AP improves, people will get used to it. But non-techie people may not.. it's a very personal thing!


And, you might want to report the phantom braking events (voice bug report is reported to actually work, earlier mentions to the contrary not withstanding!).

 

[JasJ]

report a 'problem' at the location of the false alarms and the location will get whitelisted over time.

Had the same issue with my wife, but after a year or more, she only asks for the car to be in 'chill' mode and tolerates AP on long drives. She still never uses it when she drives.

 

[david_42]

Although I've canceled my reservation, this would have been another red flag as my wife has very little tolerance for erratic front/back motion. Even 'punching' or abrupt braking of my Sprinter van can make her nauseous.

 

[chronopc]

So I know the limitations of autopilot pretty well now after having the car for a month and a half and I accept them and remain vigilant. AP works well for me for the most part. Especially my commute to and from work where it's mostly stop and go traffic. Biggest issues with it are the false positive braking events. I have had a couple on my own. Usually when going under an overpass on a sunny day and I've had a few with my wife in the car unfortunately. Just last night I had it on and as we approached a semi in the lane to the right of us it braked fairly hard and I had to press the accelerator. I tried to explain to her that I am cautious of these and why they happen but she feels it's now unsafe to use autopilot unless going slow like during my commute.

So basically I can't use autopilot while she's in the car as to not scar her if it happens again. But I'm still going to use it on my own and just continue to use it properly and be cautious. Especially in area's where I know it may have issues like going under overpasses. Hopefully they sort out these more alarming issues soon! But overall I love the car and I really enjoy autopilot. It reduces the stress of my hour plus commute a quite a bit. Anyone have similar issues and reactions by their significant others?

I scare everyone I give a ride too when I jerk the wheel to regain control.

I got one false positive breaking so far. It was when there were poles next to the road with reflectors. I'll keep an eye out and see if it occurs again.

One behavior of EAP I noticed is that when my lane merges with a merging lane the car will go to the center of the lane. This can be dangerous because people tend to cut you off in this situation and having the car go to the center instead of keeping to the left can increase the risk of being rear ended.

The other thing I would like them to adjust is the detection of my hand on the wheel. If I am resting my hand on the wheel, it often detects that I'm not holding it and will nag me. I hope they can do something to do a better job of detecting my hand.

Overall I'm very pleased with how EAP handles the road. .

 

[sub]

Most of you are lucky the wife lets you drive the Tesla at all, I only get to drive when solo. I sit in the passengers seat and make the "beep boop" sound for auto pilot to annoy her.

 

[harcocjh]

My life likes to jerk the wheel to disable it. #thanksWife This results in me losing my lunch...

My wife hates when I do that too so I try to push up on the stalk to disable it instead if I can.

 

[harcocjh]

Are these phantom braking incidents consistent or random? Meaning if you're driving under the same overpass in the same weather, will it always break in the same spot or not so much? Thanks!

So far it seems random but I haven't had the opportunity to try it in consistent locations under the same conditions. One thing I have noticed is that it seems to do it more so when it's not following a car in front. That would make sense because if the car in front isn't breaking hard then why should it. But if it's not following someone and it sees a shadow or something that it thinks could be an obstacle it needs to avoid then I think it's more likely to brake.

For a couple of the events I used the report bug feature but not all of them.

 

[Ohm it]

I scare everyone I give a ride too when I jerk the wheel to regain control.

I got one false positive breaking so far. It was when there were poles next to the road with reflectors. I'll keep an eye out and see if it occurs again.

One behavior of EAP I noticed is that when my lane merges with a merging lane the car will go to the center of the lane. This can be dangerous because people tend to cut you off in this situation and having the car go to the center instead of keeping to the left can increase the risk of being rear ended.

The other thing I would like them to adjust is the detection of my hand on the wheel. If I am resting my hand on the wheel, it often detects that I'm not holding it and will nag me. I hope they can do something to do a better job of detecting my hand.

Overall I'm very pleased with how EAP handles the road. .

AP can be disabled by pressing the Shift lever up.... no need to jerk the wheel... not sure if you were aware of that.

 

[N5329K]

report a 'problem' at the location of the false alarms and the location will get whitelisted over time.

Had the same issue with my wife, but after a year or more, she only asks for the car to be in 'chill' mode and tolerates AP on long drives. She still never uses it when she drives.

Might be one problem with that: a real need for braking happening in a whitelisted spot. You wouldn't want to be the lawyer arguing on Tesla's behalf in a case like that. And given enough time and traffic, it would eventually happen.
Robin

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

AP can be disabled by pressing the Shift lever up.... no need to jerk the wheel... not sure if you were aware of that.

Wife is aware. Wife is a jerk. I mean jerks wheel

 

[privater]

The rule of thumb to use autopilot safely: Treat it as your wife is driving it.
That also means 'monogamy'

 

[PoitNarf]

Just turn AP on even if your wife is in the car and don't tell her. If AP does something unexpected just tell her you saw a squirrel in the road and tried to avoid hitting it. If she asks why she can still hear the "beep boop" AP engage / disengage sounds tell her that's the new small animal detection feature. Or maybe just cough every time you enable or disable autopilot so she can't hear it.

 

[PoitNarf]

AP can be disabled by pressing the Shift lever up.... no need to jerk the wheel... not sure if you were aware of that.

Or by just lightly tapping the brake pedal.

 

[sub]

Just turn AP on even if your wife is in the car and don't tell her. If AP does something unexpected just tell her you saw a squirrel in the road and tried to avoid hitting it. If she asks why she can still hear the "beep boop" AP engage / disengage sounds tell her that's the new small animal detection feature. Or maybe just cough every time you enable or disable autopilot so she can't hear it.

I tried the coughing trick once,was caught red handed. If anyone thinks AP is jerky you should ride with me wife, my daughter and I have discussed wearing cervical collars.

 

[brkaus]

But overall I love the car and I really enjoy autopilot.

What are the thoughts on the wife?

 

[chronopc]

AP can be disabled by pressing the Shift lever up.... no need to jerk the wheel... not sure if you were aware of that.

I'm fully aware that you can disable it by shifting up and pressing the breaks. The reason I prefer jerking is that I don't want to accidentally disable TACC.

 

[StraightDave]

AP will never work unless every car on the road is using and doing the same with AP. I’ve been in the airline industry for over 20 years and commercial airlines and ATC still can’t figure it out and planes exit and enter the airspace on the same routes and airspeeds - ATC intervenes all the time. Vehicles on the road are too unpredictable with distractions that a car AP cannot take into account. And the other reason is people drive cars because they like the experience of driving their car. If you don’t want to drive then take an Uber.