Actually no, no one ever said that it was not a sensor problem. Because you don't know. Because you can't know unless we know if other cars have behaved the same way on the same road, which was the question that the OP asked and no one has yet answered. Yes we know that the manual says it should be used on highways. We also know that Tesla recently added stoplight and stop sign functionality in beta) (haven't seen too many stop signs in the middle of the highway) and no longer disables autopilot on local roads. We also know that autopilot typically works quite well on most of these roads and this has been well demonstrated. So let's stop pretending that we would expect the car to drive off the side of a cliff simply because the instruction manual says it should be used on highways. Yes, you have to be very careful, and yes you have to be selective on which roads you use it. To be honest, laurel canyon may not be a road that I would be comfortable using it on at this point. But back to the original post, the question was whether or not others have used it on that road and experienced similar behavior so he/she can determine if there is an issue with the car. So if you have used it on that road and experienced similar behavior, then say so. If no one has used it on that road, then mention another road where it worked well and suggest that they test their sensors there to see if the car is working properly. Simply telling someone to read the manual or that your interpretation of "minimal intervention" is superior to theirs is useful to no one.
Thank you. You expressed my point perfectly. The car has stoplight recognition, greenlight chimes and autosteer on main roads. All I wanted to know was if others who are taking this main LA road are having the same experience. I should also note that unless the freeway is fairly straight, I strongly distrust Autopilot. It veers way too far left in the lane, often coming inches from neighboring cars - even though there's plenty of room on the right side of the lane, it ignores that. I absolutely hate being in the far left lane when there's a barrier in the median. The car comes dangerously close to it, and on numerous occasions I've had to make a split second decision to pull away because the car was accelerating toward the barrier. I have an HOA sticker, but being in the HOA lane on Autopilot is a fun way to feel close to suicide. The freeway driving is not in beta - it should understand that hugging one side of the lane is not ideal, particularly when there are objects right next to the lane it's hugging.