My New Y Nearly Stopped.......... for a tree leaf

[habanero69]

Picked up new MY Saturday. Was driving today on divided four lane state highway. Median separated the double lanes had trees of all sizes, most fairly large.

Car was on cruise, but not autopilot; 60mph. Out of the left corner of my eye, I caught a decent sized tree leaf beginning to tumble downwards from a tree ahead in the median. It was not a huge leaf, but not a small maple or similar. The wind caught the leaf and caused it to do some type of loop, and about the same time it apparently entered the field of view of the MY camera. The car immediately heavily braked from 60mph to 30 in about 2 seconds. The car then started to re-accelerate, but the leaf again triggered in the camera's field of view and the car braked again, but only from 40 to 30. Needless to say the first brake nearly caused a change of my pants. I didn't understand what was happening, but I did see the leaf and began to comprehend that it had caused the sudden braking. The second braking with the leaf in full view confirmed what my first thought was not able to instantly process.

Needless to say, I was highly surprised and nearly dumbfounded. Did that just happen? I was lucky there was no one closely following as for sure they'd probably have rear ended me (since I braked suddenly for seemingly nothing).

I don't have video of the event. I still should probably inform Tesla ?, but not sure what they'd do with the info, if anything. Thoughts?

 

[Yelobird]

Thoughts. I would chalk it up as an odd coincidence story that would likely never happen again in your lifetime and move on. Pretty sure this would mean little to Tesla other then keep your camera clear.

 

[srlawren]

@Yelobird "keep your camera clear"? I'm not sure what that has to do with this event. It wasn't a dirty or obstructed camera, it was a leaf fluttering about in the air and the car incorrectly treated it like an obstacle that needed to be avoided.

@habanero69 do you not have a drive of some kind for dashcam?

 

[Mightybhwk]

I just got MY last week and a couple of times in cruise it started braking for no reason. I would have it set for 70 then I would see it change to 50 for a second, brake hard, then return to 70. I hit the accelerator immediately so I don't know if it would of went back to 70. (I assume it would) It just happened again this morning on the same overpass going to work. Can't figure what could be triggering it. Going to see if it happens again tomorrow. It was a different times of the day so I would assume it wasn't a shadow.

Also is there a way to have cruise slow down sooner on city streets? I would use it on roads that is 45 mph that have the occasional street light. It will fly up to the car waiting at the light then slow down fast. It stops with space but a little bit nerve rattling. If I was the car waiting I would think I was going to be hit. I was going to try adjusting the follow distance. Had it set at 1 for highway driving.

 

[captanzuelo]

Happens a lot when coming up to overpasses. I've learned to keep my foot hovered over the accelerator to override the phantom braking.

 

[mark95476]

A video of the event would help. It's interesting how there are very few videos of phantom braking when they appear to be very common. I watch TeslaBjorn's videos and I don't think he's encountered many in all of his extensive testing.

Personally, I use autopilot virtually every time I drive and I haven't had a phantom braking event ever. I'm in Tesla's back yard, but Hwy 101 is kind of a confusing mess with bridges and patchy roadwork. One of the more infamous autopilot deaths occurred on the 101&85 ramp that I used to drive by daily.

Needless to say, I was highly surprised and nearly dumbfounded. Did that just happen? I was lucky there was no one closely following as for sure they'd probably have rear ended me (since I braked suddenly for seemingly nothing).

I don't have video of the event. I still should probably inform Tesla ?, but not sure what they'd do with the info, if anything. Thoughts?

 

[habanero69]

@Yelobird "keep your camera clear"? I'm not sure what that has to do with this event. It wasn't a dirty or obstructed camera, it was a leaf fluttering about in the air and the car incorrectly treated it like an obstacle that needed to be avoided.

@habanero69 do you not have a drive of some kind for dashcam?

I haven sentry, but I've not learned all its in and outs. I know I have the horn honk set to record the last 30 seconds or whatever it does, but I didn't think to do that. I still don't know enough about sentry mode. i.e. Is it recording all the time even when in motion, or just when parked, etc. I know I know, RTFM, but I've not had enough time yet... My MS has an aftermarket Blackvue dashcam since it has no sentry and I've always wanted/needed one, especially when I was n S FL.

Mike

 

[srlawren]

@habanero69 so I don't actually have a Tesla yet (ordering in a week or two!), but my understanding is that it records dashcam all the time, but in a loop. So as newer footage comes in, it overwrites the oldest and so on. But I believe at any time, you can tap on the camera icon on the screen and it will save the last 10 mins of footage (from 4 cameras, I believe) for you.

 

[Mightybhwk]

For my occurrences it looks like the set point was changed (from 70 to 50 then back up) Is that normal for phantom braking? I can understand that it thinks it detects an object and slows down but I wouldn't think it would change the set point. If I'm cruising on the highway and a car comes in my lane it just slows down and keeps the set point. I'm still new at this so maybe it does change and I haven't noticed.

 

[Stach]

A video of the event would help. It's interesting how there are very few videos of phantom braking when they appear to be very common. I watch TeslaBjorn's videos and I don't think he's encountered many in all of his extensive testing.

Well, I have a 10 day old Model Y and I've had at least a dozen minor phantom braking experiences that were not warranted, IMHO. But tonight I had a MASSIVE phantom brake happen at night a little while ago. I was going 65 on the freeway and it slammed on the brakes for 2 seconds until I realized what the heck was happening and pressed on the accelerator. It felt like it took me down to 25 mph or so, but I honestly can't say as I accelerated hoping not to be rear ended. My girls in the back seat were scared and I no longer trust AutoPilot and would MUCH prefer standard cruise control until they fix this. I had a Model 3 before and had 1 phantom braking in a parking lot that was low speed, so nowhere near as startling, but that was 18 months ago and it's only gotten worse now, per my experiences!

So to make a long story short, enjoy my dashcam video and the phantom brake starts at the 47 second mark (as evidenced by the brake lights in the other 3 cameras) with no other cars near me (thankfully) and no triggers, that I can see.

Google Drive Phantom Brake Video

-Stach

 

[El joe]

Really was expecting this to be about a Nissan Leaf. Somehow that would’ve been a bigger travesty.

 

[brkaus]

Also is there a way to have cruise slow down sooner on city streets? I would use it on roads that is 45 mph that have the occasional street light. It will fly up to the car waiting at the light then slow down fast. It stops with space but a little bit nerve rattling. If I was the car waiting I would think I was going to be hit. I was going to try adjusting the follow distance. Had it set at 1 for highway driving.

- Set for higher than 1
- Be careful, it has hard time noticing stopped cars because of the way radar works.
- Be ready to brake / intervene at any time.

Personally, I adjust the speed down with the steering wheel dial when I'm approaching traffic.

 

[Fred42]

Picked up new MY Saturday. Was driving today on divided four lane state highway. Median separated the double lanes had trees of all sizes, most fairly large.

Car was on cruise, but not autopilot; 60mph. Out of the left corner of my eye, I caught a decent sized tree leaf beginning to tumble downwards from a tree ahead in the median. It was not a huge leaf, but not a small maple or similar. The wind caught the leaf and caused it to do some type of loop, and about the same time it apparently entered the field of view of the MY camera. The car immediately heavily braked from 60mph to 30 in about 2 seconds. The car then started to re-accelerate, but the leaf again triggered in the camera's field of view and the car braked again, but only from 40 to 30. Needless to say the first brake nearly caused a change of my pants. I didn't understand what was happening, but I did see the leaf and began to comprehend that it had caused the sudden braking. The second braking with the leaf in full view confirmed what my first thought was not able to instantly process.

Needless to say, I was highly surprised and nearly dumbfounded. Did that just happen? I was lucky there was no one closely following as for sure they'd probably have rear ended me (since I braked suddenly for seemingly nothing).

I don't have video of the event. I still should probably inform Tesla ?, but not sure what they'd do with the info, if anything. Thoughts?

Tesla doesn't look to owners for input on Autopilot/FSD.

Tesla has all-new software in the works that could be rolled out in December but maybe later. Elon has said it will bring a big improvement in performance.

 

[mark95476]

Yes, I think this is a good example of the "phantom braking" people are complaining about. Thanks for providing the video.

- You're going ~65 mph on the freeway.
- At ~45s I see the 55 MPH sign on the right.
- So your Tesla started braking due shortly after passing the sign (no triggers, that you could see).

I'm not sure what you expected, but I would want my car to try to obey speed limits when they change.

This reminds me of a Bjorn video where he took his M3 on a brand new road that wasn't in the Tesla navigation system. I think he thought it was using the speed limits from a nearby road.

Well, I have a 10 day old Model Y and I've had at least a dozen minor phantom braking experiences that were not warranted, IMHO. But tonight I had a MASSIVE phantom brake happen at night a little while ago. I was going 65 on the freeway and it slammed on the brakes for 2 seconds until I realized what the heck was happening and pressed on the accelerator. It felt like it took me down to 25 mph or so, but I honestly can't say as I accelerated hoping not to be rear ended. My girls in the back seat were scared and I no longer trust AutoPilot and would MUCH prefer standard cruise control until they fix this. I had a Model 3 before and had 1 phantom braking in a parking lot that was low speed, so nowhere near as startling, but that was 18 months ago and it's only gotten worse now, per my experiences!

So to make a long story short, enjoy my dashcam video and the phantom brake starts at the 47 second mark (as evidenced by the brake lights in the other 3 cameras) with no other cars near me (thankfully) and no triggers, that I can see.

Google Drive Phantom Brake Video

-Stach

 

[frankvb]

Also is there a way to have cruise slow down sooner on city streets? I would use it on roads that is 45 mph that have the occasional street light. It will fly up to the car waiting at the light then slow down fast.

That's not how you should use it, or expect it to work - detection of stationary cars is not TACC behaviour, that is because of the vehicle avoiding a collision. Only when following another (moving) vehicle that will work as you expect it does.

 

[arcus]

Thoughts?

Trees can explode!

 

[mark95476]

(I couldn't edit my response to include the image for some reason)

>- At ~45s I see the 55 MPH sign on the right.

Yes, I think this is a good example of the "phantom braking" people are complaining about. Thanks for providing the video.

- You're going ~65 mph on the freeway.
- At ~45s I see the 55 MPH sign on the right.
- So your Tesla started braking due shortly after passing the sign (no triggers, that you could see).

I'm not sure what you expected, but I would want my car to try to obey speed limits when they change.

This reminds me of a Bjorn video where he took his M3 on a brand new road that wasn't in the Tesla navigation system. I think he thought it was using the speed limits from a nearby road.

 

[captanzuelo]

I'm not sure what you expected, but I would want my car to try to obey speed limits when they change..

Did you see how violently the front of his car dipped down as it slammed on the brakes? That is not a safe way to “obey speed limits”

 

[asa8080]

Did you see how violently the front of his car dipped down as it slammed on the brakes? That is not a safe way to “obey speed limits”

Just to play devil’s advocate- how do you now it was AP pressing the brake not the driver? Dashcam video do not show WHO pressed the brakes...

 

[Stach]

Just to play devil’s advocate- how do you now it was AP pressing the brake not the driver? Dashcam video do not show WHO pressed the brakes...

I'm sure Tesla can see data that we can't, to confirm about the brakes, but I did not press the brake. I had been cruising along at 65mph with the other traffic, on the 55mph freeway the entire time. The brakes were literally applied out of nowhere and very aggressively, which proceeded to scare the crap out of me and my daughters in the back seat. Thankfully nobody was close behind me or they would have either hit me, or probably road raged me for such a violent act for no reason.