Does autopilot prevent speeding tickets?

[JetFalcon]

During the whole time I had the Model 3 since Dec 31 2018 (NYE), I have not yet to receive a ticket. Actually I did get pulled over in the first 10 minutes of driving my Model 3 testing the acceleration, but the police officer let me go. Didn't even give me a warning, just said, ohh nice Tesla how you like it. I accelerated, but when I got to the speed limit I stopped around there, so it could have been a reason why he didn't give a ticket since I was def not doing 100+ mph on 50mph local streets in OC.

But driving back to Las Vegas, I saw a cop on the I-15 waiting somewhere that be perfect for speeding. Thankfully I was doing autopilot cruising around 80mph matching most the other cars around me, passed this cop, but he didn't pull me over for going 10mph over the 70 mph limit. If I were in control, I may have been tempted to speed b/c of human error. But with the autopilot, you can sit back and relax so you don't have this urge to speed. It's almost like having an uber / lyft driver, and if you're a passenger you're not gonna have any sensation of wanting to speed.

If I still had my BMW M3, I would be very tempted to cruise at 100 mph feeling 80mph is kinda too slow. And my BMW M3 was an orange Lime Rock edition, I felt cops targeted me more just b/c its an orange sports car. I def felt that cop car on the I-15 south from Las Vegas knew that people will be tempted to speed b/c its empty.

Something with gas cars, its hard to not wanna go over the speed limit when on an empty road, I feel it has something to do with the RPM feels too low (like going downhill on a bike in low gear) and the car feels optimal cruising at a higher RPM which means it must go a higher speed.

I'm glad that the extra expense was put towards autopilot. It allows me to drive much farther with less fatigue and no boredom (which can cause speeding).

 

[Wennfred]

Yes, it does, it prevents speeding tickets. I just came from a trip into a Coronado Island, there’s a nice scenic strip of road separating the Pacific Ocean and the San Diego Bay. This is a nice road where you went to open it up but Coronado PD don’t play. So I set my AP to 65 and just roll. No tickets ever.

Fred

 

[Wennfred]

By the way, using your Browser in the Tesla, google search Tesla Waze and then click on the link, awesome Nav that shows you a lot of info from cars on the side of the road, construction ahead and Cops. Great tool for Vegas trips. Make sure to save this link in your favorites.

Fred

 

[Puddles]

I definitely drive slower on AP. Different mind set altogether.

 

[smatthew]

Pro tip: If you do happen to be going faster than you should, and you see the cop, slow down! Your brake lights are often the difference between just going on your way, and getting pulled over.

 

[JetFalcon]

Pro tip: If you do happen to be going faster than you should, and you see the cop, slow down! Your brake lights are often the difference between just going on your way, and getting pulled over.

Are you saying you want the cop to see your brake lights, so they accept the idea you are obeying their presence and the law? Thus not pull you over?

Or if they see the brake lights, police officer think you only slowed down b/c you saw them (but otherwise would be speeding). And sees this as a negative and pulls you over?

Wondering if cops are motivated by a quota, the appeal of doing a low risk task by pulling over a civilian instead of stopping an armed gunman, to be assholes (ruin someones day), or to actually keep the roads safe (but not being super anal about the speed limit, or use technicalities when they know the driver was slightly over, but still a safe speed).

To me, going around 80mph and then slowing down the AP (scrolling down to 75-70 mph) is what I did. Plus having other surrounding cars being within the same speed as me. In the moment, it was like, I want to slow down, but I don't want to slow down like I felt I was doing something bad (Speeding).

 

[SlimJim]

Are you saying you want the cop to see your brake lights, so they accept the idea you are obeying their presence and the law? Thus not pull you over?

Or if they see the brake lights, police officer think you only slowed down b/c you saw them (but otherwise would be speeding). And sees this as a negative and pulls you over?

Wondering if cops are motivated by a quota, the appeal of doing a low risk task by pulling over a civilian instead of stopping an armed gunman, to be assholes (ruin someones day), or to actually keep the roads safe (but not being super anal about the speed limit, or use technicalities when they know the driver was slightly over, but still a safe speed).

To me, going around 80mph and then slowing down the AP (scrolling down to 75-70 mph) is what I did. Plus having other surrounding cars being within the same speed as me. In the moment, it was like, I want to slow down, but I don't want to slow down like I felt I was doing something bad (Speeding).

A few years ago before I owned a Tesla, I have been pulled over because the cop saw me brake right after driving by his speed trap location. He specifically asked me why I braked after I drove by him. He let me go with verbal warning.

 

[camalaio]

I find this comes down to personality many times. Like in your case @JetFalcon, you're aware that you don't have a lot of self control over the urge to speed. That's... well, I don't want to say it's fine, but awareness is the first step and all that so well done there!

I'm the opposite, and have a strong urge to not speed excessively. I'll speed a bit to keep with the flow of traffic, but in some cases the flow is just too fast for my liking (like 80km/h in a 60 zone near a school with kids on the sidewalk, what the heck?). It takes great mental effort for me to consistently excessively speed, and so I do not.

That said, there's a flip side to this. Cruise control (AutoSteer or not, Tesla or not, doesn't matter) is more likely to make me speed IMO. I probably pay less attention to speed signs in cruise, so if the limit goes down I think I'm more likely to miss it. Whoops.

Further, there's threads on here where people have sworn up and down that they could not have been speeding because of AutoPilot. And in some of these situations, it's actually clear they deserved the ticket because either the map data was wrong for speed limits or the car didn't slow down before the speed limit change. So the more AP-specific functionality of using map data for speeds has been a negative for speeding tickets in some real cases.

Are you saying you want the cop to see your brake lights, so they accept the idea you are obeying their presence and the law? Thus not pull you over?

Or if they see the brake lights, police officer think you only slowed down b/c you saw them (but otherwise would be speeding). And sees this as a negative and pulls you over?

Wondering if cops are motivated by a quota, the appeal of doing a low risk task by pulling over a civilian instead of stopping an armed gunman, to be assholes (ruin someones day), or to actually keep the roads safe (but not being super anal about the speed limit, or use technicalities when they know the driver was slightly over, but still a safe speed).

To me, going around 80mph and then slowing down the AP (scrolling down to 75-70 mph) is what I did. Plus having other surrounding cars being within the same speed as me. In the moment, it was like, I want to slow down, but I don't want to slow down like I felt I was doing something bad (Speeding).

A friend and I have both had cops give us the thumbs-up and yell "THANK YOU!" when slowed down for them. Like, deeeefinitely speeding a lot, but slowed down. Some are genuinely out there just to get you to slow down, and ticket those who still think it's fine to speed excessively despite obvious enforcement present.

While there may be some truth to it in some cases, I think the whole "quota" thing is a overblown joke taken too seriously. It's usually an excuse for them catching you actually speeding, not giving you a ticket that you didn't deserve. Actually, I hear this in reference to seatbelt fines more.

I also gently pass cops sometimes. Seems like as long as you're not being a reckless a-hole, they're fine. They enforce the flow of traffic more than anything.

Take this with a grain, I'm from Canada. Not like we have the most genial well-meaning cops around though.

 

[smatthew]

Are you saying you want the cop to see your brake lights, so they accept the idea you are obeying their presence and the law? Thus not pull you over?

Or if they see the brake lights, police officer think you only slowed down b/c you saw them (but otherwise would be speeding). And sees this as a negative and pulls you over?

Wondering if cops are motivated by a quota, the appeal of doing a low risk task by pulling over a civilian instead of stopping an armed gunman, to be assholes (ruin someones day), or to actually keep the roads safe (but not being super anal about the speed limit, or use technicalities when they know the driver was slightly over, but still a safe speed).

To me, going around 80mph and then slowing down the AP (scrolling down to 75-70 mph) is what I did. Plus having other surrounding cars being within the same speed as me. In the moment, it was like, I want to slow down, but I don't want to slow down like I felt I was doing something bad (Speeding).

My understanding is that when you slow down and they see your brakes, you are acknowledging their presence and making an effort to be safer. Like "Oops, thanks for reminding me officer!" You're also showing that you are paying attention to the road.

 

[neptunesfinest]

Teslas seem pretty invisible to cops in my experience. I think the lack of sound is a big factor. I don’t speed excessively though.

Agree it’s most definitely better to let the cop see you braking. Best would be to slow down before the cop sees you but they really want to see that you’re paying attention more than anything.

 

[cdswm3]

Any cruise control will do that. It's not an AP thing.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

By the way, using your Browser in the Tesla, google search Tesla Waze and then click on the link, awesome Nav that shows you a lot of info from cars on the side of the road, construction ahead and Cops. Great tool for Vegas trips. Make sure to save this link in your favorites.

Fred

Does TeslaWaze show chargers, and calculate routes taking them into account? I don't have my Tesla yet, so I can't determine that for myself. (Nine days to go!)

 

[GenralSpecific]

Does TeslaWaze show chargers, and calculate routes taking them into account? I don't have my Tesla yet, so I can't determine that for myself. (Nine days to go!)

Not unless you know what chargers you want to navigate to. Personally I’m not even sure how to get it to show navigation, so maybe I’m missing something... it does show where cops and other reported road stuff is on its map though.

 

[Puddles]

Any cruise control will do that. It's not an AP thing.

I'd agree if you said "any traffic aware cruise control." If I have to constantly fiddle with the set points of a single-speed cruise control, due to traffic, I find the "hurry around them" part of my brain is still engaged.