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bushburner
Member
damn, when will people realize that autopilot is not autopilot.
3s-a-charm
Active Member
Accident avoidance can't eliminate all accenting possibilities. Driver admitted to being distracted too. Unfortunate collision but fortunate everyone is okay.
Big-T
Member
scottf200
Well-Known Member
Egads! Glad noone was hurt. Related to this I always use Waze as backup navigation (setting next supercharge as waypoint) as waze tells me about cars on the side of the road and debris/potholes ... then I am a little more aware/attentive in these locations. Crazy situation they described in the article/FB page ref but hopefully Tesla can use the data to improve the system. I love AP1 and use it as added safety (seeing two cars ahead as an example) even on many of my local 45 mph 4-6 lane roads.
disagree
hos epi to polu
Actually he said he was looking off to the side. I do that in my car, too, to look at traffic and change lanes (especially since my X doesn't have blind-spot detection or display accurate representations of my surroundings).
Another characterization is this: a semi veered into his lane and there was nothing he could do about it. The Tesla didn't AEB and he didn't have time to avoid the collision. Not every accident is avoidable.
Super_Popular
Well-Known Member
Exactly. Autopilot didn't "cause the crash" - a semi truck cutting him off did. Regardless, I'm not sure why the guy continued going full speed/using autopilot with a significant traffic hazard in the road.
Bottom line is that he probably would have been dead in any other car.
I guess my biggest question is why didn't the car AEB? Not every accident is preventable, but I would hope the computer would detect the imminent collison and apply the brakes faster than I could in a situation like this.
The correct Electrek title should be:
Tesla Model X owner claims Autopilot caused crash with a semi truck, but in reality the semi truck cut him off while he was rubbernecking
Tesla Model X owner claims Autopilot caused crash with a semi truck, but in reality the semi truck cut him off while he was rubbernecking
disagree
hos epi to polu
Yeah, it's not reassuring. Even a driver paying the super-bestest attention can get cut-off or have a driver in front of him slam the brakes. The manual tells us that if you take any corrective action, the car will not break (or am I misunderstanding it?). Seems here that our nature to try to avoid impact is in conflict with a potential need for auto-breaking. Puzzle.
Emergency braking systems don't initiate braking unless there is no other option present (e.g. in order to not sabotage a driver's ability to swerve around an accident).
Plus, witness testimony tends to be extremely unreliable in terms of timelines and whether or not they felt the car brake during the moments leading up to a severe accident like this.
It would be nice to have some dashcam video from this. It looks like a high speed collision, it really depends on exactly how and when the truck cut him off whether or not this is a freak accident or a distracted driver scenario.
Plus, witness testimony tends to be extremely unreliable in terms of timelines and whether or not they felt the car brake during the moments leading up to a severe accident like this.
It would be nice to have some dashcam video from this. It looks like a high speed collision, it really depends on exactly how and when the truck cut him off whether or not this is a freak accident or a distracted driver scenario.
It would seem from the damage that the semi was only halfway in the lane when it was hit. If it was fully in the lane the car would have hit the brakes. At least mine always does when AP1 is engaged and there's a slower car ahead.
I've only heard the warning when AP1 has been disengaged but that's really neither here nor there.
I've only heard the warning when AP1 has been disengaged but that's really neither here nor there.
There is a configuration setting where you can set the collision detection warning to 3 levels: early, standard, and later. I wonder what it was set to in this crash. I set mine to early, getting a very occasional false positive (which I like because it reminds me that the system is working). How do you feel about this?
disagree
hos epi to polu
I don't want to take this too far astray, but I have mine set to standard. When EAP stops freaking out about shadows and signs, I might try early again. But as it is, I was getting way too many alerts when it was set to early.
This is gonna sound horrible: But as a California driver, I'd prefer normal or late, even on AP1 when there's rarely any entirely unwarranted false positives…. The driving style around here is fairly aggressive, and after around 40,000 accident-free miles I can say I'm fairly competent at my driving style, but it's also prone to triggering FCW's at times when I am entirely in control and aware of the critical distances.
With that said, if I were living in the suburban Midwest again, I would probably keep it set on Early.
I'm glad the driver is safe.
I don't blame autopilot, but I do see it as an potential example of collision avoidance not working. Or at least not working up to the level we want it to be at. Where AP2 potentially might do a lot better (once it's further along in development), and why AP2 owners shouldn't be jealous of AP1.
This is one of the reasons I rarely use AP except in specific situations (like lots of traffic with slow speeds) or no one around at all. In other cases I find that my situational awareness is reduced. So I could easily see myself getting into the same type of accident simply because my brain was somewhere else. This is probably not true for everything, but it's most certainly true for me.
I don't blame autopilot, but I do see it as an potential example of collision avoidance not working. Or at least not working up to the level we want it to be at. Where AP2 potentially might do a lot better (once it's further along in development), and why AP2 owners shouldn't be jealous of AP1.
This is one of the reasons I rarely use AP except in specific situations (like lots of traffic with slow speeds) or no one around at all. In other cases I find that my situational awareness is reduced. So I could easily see myself getting into the same type of accident simply because my brain was somewhere else. This is probably not true for everything, but it's most certainly true for me.
I'm just glad this driver is alive. I do have to say I agree there is a "flaw". I've had autopilot on before where it never detected a car in front of me and it was going fast. If I didn't take control it would have also hit the vehicle in front of me. I never fully trust Auto Pilot and am aware but I agree that the automatic emergency braking really should work better.
I do agree the most useful scenario is either in lots of traffic or I use it quite a bit on the highway as well when it's not busy but the situation above and also my situation where it didn't detect the car until relatively the last minute never let me trust AP.
I still LOVE the technology but I personally don't see fully autonomous driving coming for many many years with all the red tape involved with laws, liability, etc.
I do agree the most useful scenario is either in lots of traffic or I use it quite a bit on the highway as well when it's not busy but the situation above and also my situation where it didn't detect the car until relatively the last minute never let me trust AP.
I still LOVE the technology but I personally don't see fully autonomous driving coming for many many years with all the red tape involved with laws, liability, etc.
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