Concerned About Tesla AEB Effectiveness

[int-veh]

The recent head on crash on 101 and other reported crashes before, I’m getting quite concerned abt the effectiveness of the Automatic Emergency Braking system.

No one seem to be talking about it. But shouldn’t AEB have kicked in for this latest crash and at least slowed down a bit to reduce impact?

I don’t see that many reports of accidents being avoided by AEB either.

 

[MP3Mike]

AEB isn't designed to avoid accidents, only to slow the car down by 25 MPH when an accident is unavoidable and even then it won't do anything if you steer sharply or press the accelerator.

So in the case of the accident on the 101 he may have been steering sharply to get out of the far left lane, and may have floored it to try to squeeze in. Both actions disabling AEB. And what we think happened was that his left front tire got caught on the track for the smart cushion crash mitigation device that had been expended and not reset. (He might not have even seen the track so thought he could drive over that section.) So he got drug right into the gore point.

I don’t see that many reports of accidents being avoided by AEB either.

People don't often come on to forums to say how they were saved from their poor driving by the cars automated systems. (And again it is not an accident avoidance system.)​

 

[Eclectic]

The recent head on crash on 101 and other reported crashes before, I’m getting quite concerned abt the effectiveness of the Automatic Emergency Braking system.

No one seem to be talking about it. But shouldn’t AEB have kicked in for this latest crash and at least slowed down a bit to reduce impact?

I don’t see that many reports of accidents being avoided by AEB either.

I think you're asking in the wrong place. Every accident without a death is lauded as proof that Tesla makes the safest cars in the universe and no questions can be asked about the failures of Tesla's safety systems.

 

[Tam]

...I’m getting quite concerned abt the effectiveness of the Automatic Emergency Braking system...

It's healthy to be cautious when someone offers technology.

For example, the recent Uber autonomous vehicle that killed a pedestrian walking with her bicycle.

But Tesla is not Uber, so it might be a good time to refresh Tesla AEB:

1) As explained by @MP3Mike , unlike some other companies' AEB advertised on TV, Tesla AEB does not stop to avoid a collision. As a matter of fact, it allows an imminent collision to happen BUT with lesser force by reducing 25 MPH from the current speed. If he was at 90 MPH, Tesla AEB would allow a collision to happen at a lesser force of 65MPH.

2) As explained by @MP3Mike , driver's actions CAN disable Tesla's AEB because human is the boss and if the boss wants to manually control the situation, AEB has to obey that command and give up its own control.

3) Current Tesla crash avoidance system is beta so human has to be in control at all times because sometimes it can avoid accidents but other times it cannot. If he's on autopilot, may be this is just one of those times when he had to take over the control and not rely on autopilot.

Tesla AEB relies on RADAR and camera. That combination works quite well in many situation but not in others.

People who rely on Tesla's technology with no concerns could end up getting themselves into trouble as real mishaps have been reported.

AEB is a new technology and I am not sure you can get any car manufacture who can guarantee that its technology works flawlessly.

We are like at a very early days of Microsoft Operating System that kept crashing with a Blue Screen of Death that wiped out all of what I have been typing for the past hour. I could retain all of what I typed if I reverted back to my old and faithful manual typewriter. But in so doing, I would give up the new emerging technology. So I learned its imperfection and took control and I kept saving my work every 1 minute

The same way with Tesla crash avoidance technology: Now that you know how it works and how it doesn't, you just make sure you are in control at all times. Otherwise, just don't pay for expensive technology--manual option would be fine.

 

[Doug_G]

Vehicle radars do not pick up on stationary objects because of the inevitable excessive clutter @ speed = 0. AEB is designrd to mitigate rear end collisions not driving into a solid stationary object.

 

[int-veh]

Vehicle radars do not pick up on stationary objects because of the inevitable excessive clutter @ speed = 0. AEB is designrd to mitigate rear end collisions not driving into a solid stationary object.

Couldn’t the system that understands it is driving within two lanes on a highway significantly minimize the false positives of stationary objects? In any case we are only taking about slowing down and warning. So even a few false positives won’t do any harm i’d think.

 

[int-veh]

Is the lack of a good AEB system the primary reason why Tesla’s don’t seem to do Euro NCAP certifications? NCAP safety ratings seem to be much more comprehensive and current than IIHS ratings.

 

[brkaus]

The thread title probably should be “concerned about Tesla AEB effectiveness”

few autos that advertise AEB will come to a complete stop in all instances. Lots of YouTube car fail videos.

I’m also curious about the 101 accident. So many unknowns there.

 

[int-veh]

The thread title probably should be “concerned about Tesla AEB effectiveness”

few autos that advertise AEB will come to a complete stop in all instances. Lots of YouTube car fail videos.

I’m also curious about the 101 accident. So many unknowns there.

Sorry, yes. But TMC doesnt allow title edits. I realized the error as soon as I posted.

My worry is Tesla touts it’s safety tech as the best. But really it doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to being the best if I look at Euro NCAP ratings.

From an average consumer’s perspective, one would get a false sense of security about Tesla’s AEB from reading the news (e.g. the CR Tesla AEB ratings downgrade and IIHS AEB ratings). But in reality it looks like AEB is practically useless in saving lives. Just useful for rear end collisions, maybe (even then not useful if the vehicle in front is stationary).

 

[Doug_G]

Couldn’t the system that understands it is driving within two lanes on a highway significantly minimize the false positives of stationary objects? In any case we are only taking about slowing down and warning. So even a few false positives won’t do any harm i’d think.

The radar doesn't have that kind of resolution. No AEB system in existence has that kind of capability.

Sorry, yes. But TMC doesnt allow title edits. I realized the error as soon as I posted.

[Moderator hat on] Fixed.

 

[brkaus]

Sorry, yes. But TMC doesnt allow title edits. I realized the error as soon as I posted.

My worry is Tesla touts it’s safety tech as the best. But really it doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to being the best if I look at Euro NCAP ratings.

From an average consumer’s perspective, one would get a false sense of security about Tesla’s AEB from reading the news (e.g. the CR Tesla AEB ratings downgrade and IIHS AEB ratings). But in reality it looks like AEB is practically useless in saving lives. Just useful for rear end collisions, maybe (even then not useful if the vehicle in front is stationary).

You can request title changes by reporting your post and requesting a title change. I reported the above post, will see if they can update.

One of the automotive talk shows in Dallas I listened to last fall basically said the same about all AEB systems from all makers. Over marketed and gave folks a false sense of safety. BTW, just because it doesn't solve all problems, that doesn't mean it won't solve some problems.

You could say similar for seat belts (that one time it is better to be thrown from the car in a fire), air bags (air bag falsely fires and/or causes injury), or antilock brakes (initially people were not pushing them as hard and they didn't help). If we didn't keep moving ahead those systems wouldn't be where they are today. But, there are always going to be exceptions.

 

[int-veh]

Thanks!

The radar doesn't have that kind of resolution. No AEB system in existence has that kind of capability.
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NCAP has an AEB Inter-Urban rating that tests for effectiveness against stationary vehicles as well. So I don’t agree ‘no AEB has that kind of capability’.