First experience with TACC failure that almost caused an accident

[Trevor B]

Thanks for the wake-up call. Why in the world is the front-facing camera not seeing an obstruction right in front of you??

Because all of this is still beta .. and will remain for years to come

 

[GolanB]

Digging in a little deeper here into reddit, I found the following thread:

Beware - autopilot is happy to drive on the wrong side of the road. : teslamotors

email to tesla autopilot feedback

Seems as if Tesla has an alias "[email protected]" which is intended for reporting autopilot related issues, although there is no guaranteed response.

 

[croman]

Had this happen to me several times since AP2 software first got deployed. First time was with a garbage truck (I know, biggest thing ever and bright blue!). Second was a normal sedan during the day. Last one was 2018 firmware where a black car and night (Tesla Model S) was at a red light and my car failed to see it and I braked hard. The other two incidents were in stop and go and the car just disappeared and my car tried to take that "empty" space.

So its great you stayed on top of this. As someone that saw AP2 from the very beginnings its really hard to trust this system. One glitch and you're in serious trouble. I can't imagine sleeping in my car which is sad because I was really motivated to buy FSD because I thought I could save time in the car and I don't think that is possible for at least another 2-3 years, if ever.

 

[Ugly]

Would increasing the trailing distance to the max, seven lengths, help? I had a similar problem on a curve with the rear of a leading truck at an oblique angle. For me, the irony of EAP is that it increases your attention significantly like turning your car over to your teenager the first time. That has improved my driving.

 

[ricksastro]

Here's the moment the truck disappears.
A few observations:
The taillights merge with the cars in the two adjacent lanes (from the perspective of the autopilot cameras).
The black part of the truck is probably low enough that the computer ignores it or thinks it's a dark mark on the road.
The lift gate is about the same color as the road.
The top of the truck is about the same color as the sky.
Computer vision is really hard and that's why AP is in beta.
View attachment 395165

And since the camera is forward of that point of view, I'm guessing the tail lights are not visible at all...would be interesting to see the internal dashcam view.

 

[John Beans]

Were you near an airport?

 

[Fernand]

Like everything in America, that's easily solved by passing a law. Every self-avowed obstacle must be painted safety orange.

 

[GolanB]

Would increasing the trailing distance to the max, seven lengths, help? I had a similar problem on a curve with the rear of a leading truck at an oblique angle. For me, the irony of EAP is that it increases your attention significantly like turning your car over to your teenager the first time. That has improved my driving.

In general, increasing car length following distance is a good safety measure; the struggle I have in this area is that people will use it as an opportunity (invitation) to insert themselves in front of you.

Some people have disagreed with me on the point you've raised regarding attention. I have found that auditing autopilot well takes more work than driving (there are exceptions to this, like bumper to bumper traffic), in part because I'm consciously processing autosteering, vs. 30 years of driving has caused me to get on the road and drive subconsciously. I don't think I'll be able to get to the point where I'm subconsciously auditing autosteering and at the same time being at the maximum level of safety. The more I get to know its failure modes, the more aware I am that we should not come to rely on it.

Until the manual says it's safe to ignore the road, don't ignore the road.

 

[Msjulie]

I will add that sometimes, recently, I will pass a truck but then on the screen it shows up in front/left of me for an instance. Also cars well in their lanes sometimes show up in front of me for a moment, which explains the scary-*ss phantom braking I sometimes get. Car is all whoa where did that come from...

Outside very slow moving traffic, I'm finding TACC more stressful than not.. ;(

Some people have disagreed with me on the point you've raised regarding attention. I have found that auditing autopilot well takes more work than driving (there are exceptions to this, like bumper to bumper traffic),

Yep

 

[nvx1977]

I heard back from Tesla:

Thank you for reaching out to Tesla Support. We do apologize for the delay in responding to your email. We would like to send this case to our Advanced Vehicle Support team for further investigation. Can you please provide the following:

Attach any screen shots or videos you may have:

Thank you for completing a Bug report and providing a very detailed email to us with times and dates. Once we have the video you stated you had, we can escalate this case up for further investigation.

I could have swore I sent them the youtube link to the video in the OP. I sent them the link again. If I hear back, I'll update.


-edit-
got a really quick response back:

Thank you for providing that link for us and be so very detailed in your email. I am sending your case to our Advanced Vehicle Support team for further investigation. As it can take some time for them to review, we recommend during this time if any concerns are seen while operating the vehicle, please use the Bug report feature in the vehicle.

To submit a Bug Report on Model 3, press the right scroll wheel button. Then say "bug report" (or another option below), followed by a description of the unexpected behavior.

You can use voice commands to provide feedback to Tesla. Say "Note", "Report", "Bug note", or "Bug report" followed by your brief comments. Model 3 takes a snapshot of its systems, including screen captures of the touchscreen.