Editorial: Why it is safer to have creep mode ON rather than OFF.

[Peteski]

I learned when I owned my Model S that indeed Creep Mode ON was much safer, much more intuitive, and much easier to use and understand, than non-creep mode. I drove a long way without creep mode, and I thought it was more "raw" and "natural", until I realized how dangerous it could be and how much better creep mode is when someone recommended it to me to solve some safety problems I had. Not only did creep mode solve those safety problems, it solved many other safety problems, and made driving easier and more enjoyable.

Good for you. It's still merely a personal preference and all your comments should be prefixed with "for me". In the same vane, [for me] I find creep OFF preferable and more intuitive. I don't have any particular safety concerns with either option.

So it might be helpful if you explained what "safety problems" you experienced while driving without creep and how creep resolved them?

 

[Peteski]

I respect your opinion and do not wish to affect it. Slight addition though: Same happens with creep in any car with hold assist, Teslas included. Creep does not affect stopping in lights or in traffic where the car stays still. The difference is in low speed maneuvering.

As for manual, I acknowledged clutch operating errors in my message of course. I was just thinking about the predictability perspective: crawling on clutch and automatic creeping offer a preview of where and how the car starts moving which is missing with creepless.

The difference I noticed with Hill Hold with creep on and off is that you have to press the brake much harder with creep on to initiate it. With creep off just the act of stopping very lightly on the brakes is usually enough to initiate hold.

Crawling on the clutch or crawling with the accelerator pedal is much of a muchness to my mind. Both actions require conscious effort to both initiate and modulate. The latter is just far easier to modulate and there is much less risk of your foot slipping off the accelerator. The only issue is IF you can't control your right foot. Much as driving a manual car would be very difficult without good clutch control with your left foot. Creep on the other hand is an automated fixed rate crawl, requiring brake input to modulate. If people prefer that kind of thing then good for them. But all this nonsense about creep being somehow more failsafe or whatever else is not very convincing to anyone who prefers not to use it. We don't all crash through our garage walls or roll backwards totally out of control!

 

[Candleflame]

Put another way:

Creep Mode On
If car is stopped and you press the accelerator, car won't move.

Creep Mode Off
If car is stopped and you press the accelerator, without looking at the dash, you cannot predict what will happen next. You could lunge forward at high speed, lunge backward at high speed, or not move.

i have an automatic now in australia and i occasionally shift the car into the wrong gear i.e. when trying to reverse park. i usually only notice AFTER i press down on the gas pedal that i move forward.

 

[Electroman]

I learned when I owned my Model S that indeed Creep Mode ON was much safer, much more intuitive, and much easier to use and understand, than non-creep mode. I drove a long way without creep mode, and I thought it was more "raw" and "natural", until I realized how dangerous it could be and how much better creep mode is when someone recommended it to me to solve some safety problems I had. Not only did creep mode solve those safety problems, it solved many other safety problems, and made driving easier and more enjoyable.

+100

 

[Peteski]

+100

I didn't realise there were a 100 of you, lol.

 

[JeffK]

Every time I see this thread pop up I think of this...

 

[robski]

What annoys me about these threads are people who keep insisting that creep on is somehow inherently safer. I just don't buy into that idea. People are just used to what they've driven for years previously and don't like change.

Agree. My grandmother doesn't use online banking because it's "safer" going into the branch.

 

[polymathic]

Final assessment of this thread:

1/ This is where Tesla drivers who feel more comfortable with creep on want to justifies their choice as the logical, safest, and best option, rather than simply a personal choice, or a lack of skills or experience on their part.

2/ This is where Tesla drivers who prefer to turn off creep point out that a skilled driver is fine either way, and it's only a personal choice. It's a matter of precise pedal modulation. If you don't have the fine motor control skills, by all means use creep, but please stop claiming it's safer. It may be safer for someone with your particular skillset, but not for everyone.

I've been in enough Teslas where the driver had poor pedal modulation; a car this fast and responsive is not the best match for everyone. I was in my father-in-law's Model 3, and he made everyone in the car motion sick; it was an incredibly unpleasant experience to be a passenger in his car. Yet, he was fine driving his ICE car, but somehow after two months of driving a Tesla he still had not learned to modulate his foot. Creep is requirement for such drivers.

In this debate, I've yet to hear someone candidly say that they have creep on because pedal modulation is a challenge for them.

Bottom line, this is beating a dead horse. And the biggest factor in safety isn't whether you have creep on or off; it is whether you are a good driver or not.

 

[mal_tsla]

If you're right, Tesla should consider non linear accelerator mappings.

This is super common in RC planes, helis, and cars, where responsiveness is needed sometimes and precision other times. They often have a setting to customize the "expo curve"

 

[JeffK]

If you're right, Tesla should consider non linear accelerator mappings.

I, for one, love the linear acceleration curve. It's extremely predictable.

 

[robski]

If someone feels they cannot properly operate a vehicle without Creep, please use it for the safety of yourself and others. Having said that, there's still no basis to the claim that it's safer as a whole. If that were true I'd have to believe that Tesla would ship all cars with Creep without the ability to turn on/off.

 

[mal_tsla]

I, for one, love the linear acceleration curve. It's extremely predictable.

Agreed. I suspect even the current mapping is not linear though.

 

[JeffK]

Agreed. I suspect even the current mapping is not linear though.

It's pretty linear... blue line: