FSD saved us from being crushed by a semi

[scottiev]

First post and first near death experience in our Model 3 (purchased in March), and I’m seriously impressed by the way Autopilot (and some luck?) helped us escape a very bad situation.

I made a little video from the dashcam footage. You can see it here:

The car was in navigate on Autopilot mode and a truck came into our lane without warning. Before I could move my foot to the brake, the car had engaged full emergency braking and steered us precisely between a 30,000 lbs semi and the concrete barrier. I’m still amazed we made it out.

Pretty strong case in how autonomous vehicles can be safer than a human could ever be. In the time it takes for a person to become aware of the situation and respond (3/4 of a second?), the the computer has already noticed and responded in a fraction of that time.

What would have been the result if Autopilot wasn't engaged? I don't want to think about it.

Now we just need autonomous trucks.

 

[CyberGus]

holy s***

 

[Mardak]

Wow. Centimeters away!

 

[Feathermerchan]

Max load for a Semi is not 30,000lb but 80,000lb.
Glad you're OK.

 

[n.one.one]

That is incredible and impressive. Thanks for posting it.

 

[mtndrew1]

Amazing performance by autopilot, you’re very fortunate.

 

[bons]

Just amazing! Glad you are safe!

 

[P3dStealth]

This is autopilot. FSD doesnt exist yet and you are not changing lanes or anything fsd adds right now.

Autopilot seems to have worked though.

Did your horn beep and driver's window roll down automatically?

 

[scottiev]

This is autopilot. FSD doesnt exist yet and you are not changing lanes or anything fsd adds right now.

Autopilot seems to have worked though.

Did your horn beep and driver's window roll down automatically?

Yes, you are correct. This is autopilot. I was laying on the horn the entire time. Windows didn't roll down. I don't think this happens unless you actually hit something?

 

[ReddyLeaf]

Wow, just wow. I’ve watched tons of dashcam videos trying to improve my predictive capabilities. I cannot see hoe any human driver would make it out of that situation without a crash, and perhaps a fatality. Send that video to NHTSA , the local and state patrol, and get that truck impounded.

 

[CyberGus]

Cutting off another driver is not (yet) a death-penalty infraction. The truck driver should certainly be cited (and probably drug-tested lol) but let's put down the pitchforks and torches. I am curious if this footage is sufficient to take legal action.

Faced with a similar situation, my instinct would have been to floor it and try to get in front, rather than brake to allow most of the truck length to pass me by. But Autopilot is probably smarter than me.

 

[P3dStealth]

Yes, you are correct. This is autopilot. I was laying on the horn the entire time. Windows didn't roll down. I don't think this happens unless you actually hit something?

It was a joke but I guess nobody got it.

 

[cucubits]

Pretty strong case in how autonomous vehicles can be safer than a human could ever be. In the time it takes for a person to become aware of the situation and respond (3/4 of a second?), the the computer has already noticed and responded in a fraction of that time.

What would have been the result if Autopilot wasn't engaged? I don't want to think about it.

While AP did perform well in this situation, I don't think it can be considered safer than what an attentive human driver could have done.

AP reacted to the situation. A human driver paying attention to the surroundings, would have been able to somewhat predict what was about to happen. Noticing the semi getting in the lane next to me, I would have already been getting ready to take evasive actions, much earlier than AP reacted. Essentially I wouldn't have ended up in the situation where AP had to step in: either accelerate a bit before the semi is even in the next lane or let off, just not to be right next to it for such a long time.

 

[scottiev]

While AP did perform well in this situation, I don't think it can be considered safer than what an attentive human driver could have done.

AP reacted to the situation. A human driver paying attention to the surroundings, would have been able to somewhat predict what was about to happen. Noticing the semi getting in the lane next to me, I would have already been getting ready to take evasive actions, much earlier than AP reacted. Essentially I wouldn't have ended up in the situation where AP had to step in: either accelerate a bit before the semi is even in the next lane or let off, just not to be right next to it for such a long time.

Yes, better to be a defensive driver, and this is a shortcoming of current technology - predicting an outcome. I usually don't linger next to anybody (esp semis), if I can help it. But where reflexes are the only way out, Autopilot has us beat by a long shot.

 

[Soda Popinski]

While AP did perform well in this situation, I don't think it can be considered safer than what an attentive human driver could have done.

Something to consider is, AutoPilot generally does a better job at lane centering than human drivers. In this case, the car did a good job keeping it centered between the truck and the K-rails. Most people can't look at both sides of the car at the same time, much less with ultrasonics.

I can see a human driving overcompensating and scraping the K-rails, when there would have enough space to keep between the rock and the hard place, such as what we saw in this video.

 

[Jonathantuba]

Impressive of Autopilot! So pleased you were kept safe in such a dangerous situation

 

[Feathermerchan]

Red flag when the truck made first lane change quickly with no signal.
Red flag - mirrors.
Red flag - you were moving into his blind spot just after he changed lanes.
I will not drive beside an 18 wheeler. Ever. This has been a rule of mine for a long time.

 

[DS369]

Red flag when the truck made first lane change quickly with no signal.
Red flag - mirrors.
Red flag - you were moving into his blind spot just after he changed lanes.
I will not drive beside an 18 wheeler. Ever. This has been a rule of mine for a long time.

My thoughts.

But in general, great job by Tesla, especially in light of future FSD.

 

[Az_Rael]

The stuff of nightmares, there. I am impressed you left AP engaged, my first reaction would have been to disengage AP. No way I would have trusted it with that, but glad it handled it well. I also might have punched it to get in front as someone mentioned, but I don’t think AP’s algorithms work that way, especially if punching it required you to exceed the set speed.

 

[scottiev]

Red flag when the truck made first lane change quickly with no signal.
Red flag - mirrors.
Red flag - you were moving into his blind spot just after he changed lanes.
I will not drive beside an 18 wheeler. Ever. This has been a rule of mine for a long time.

All hindsight 2020. Yes, I probably should have avoided this truck. Still, no excuse for his driving.