Near collision this morning. No alarm from system?

[TankoftheNorth]

On my way into work this morning while driving on the freeway a car in the lane to my left started to come directly into me. We were right next to each other so I have no idea how they didn't see me. Thankfully I was attentive and saw her right away and began laying on my horn. This did not deter her and she kept coming into my lane and pushed me into the lane to my right. I was very fortunate no one was in that lane because I had no time to actually look. The young woman who pushed me into the other lane gave zero indication she ever saw me or even heard my horn. I still can't believe how people change lanes without properly looking, and then don't react to someone hitting their horn for 10 seconds....

Anyway, I was also very surprised that my Model 3 did not react in any way to this event. An alarm didn't go off, it didn't take over control, it didn't do anything. But should it have?

Time and time again, I find myself questioning if my system is working as it should. A handful of times a week I have events happen that I question, from breaking on the freeway when it shouldn't, to events like this. Should the system have done anything and if it should have, should I have logged a bug?

edit: This makes me realize I need to stop being lazy and prioritize getting the dashcam working!

 

[Tam]

....An alarm didn't go off...

I am all alarm fatigue so I appreciate the system would remain calm with no panicky alarms when a driver is dealing with an incident.

...it didn't take over control, it didn't do anything...

I wouldn't count on it!

Autopilot is a "convenience" feature which is great for simple scenarios and straight highways.

 

[TankoftheNorth]

I am all alarm fatigue so I appreciate the system would remain calm with no panicky alarms when a driver is dealing with an incident.



I wouldn't count on it!

Autopilot is a "convenience" feature which is great for simple scenarios and straight highways.

This isn't a question of autopilot though. I have EAP, but even cars that don't have it are supposed to have standard safety features like collision detection.

 

[apacheguy]

Yep, side collision avoidance is a standard safety feature on all M3s. It’s not a convenience feature.

 

[TankoftheNorth]

Yep, side collision avoidance is a standard safety feature on all M3s. It’s not a convenience feature.

This was my understanding as well, which is why I was very surprised my Model 3 didn't react in anyway. Not audibly or physically. Should I have submitted a bug? Should I talk to my SC? Or is it just a fact of owning a Model 3 that a lot of stuff just doesn't work great yet.

 

[drj3]

It may be a situation where you reacted so the system didn’t have to. In videos I have seen the automatic side impact collision avoidance seems to take over at the last minute. It is likely that since you saw it coming, the system didn’t need to react.
At this point in the development of autopilot and safety features, the system is safest with the car watching out to make sure the humans don’t do anything stupid and an attentive driver watching out to make sure the car doesn’t do anything stupid.

 

[TankoftheNorth]

It may be a situation where you reacted so the system didn’t have to. In videos I have seen the automatic side impact collision avoidance seems to take over at the last minute. It is likely that since you saw it coming, the system didn’t need to react.
At this point in the development of autopilot and safety features, the system is safest with the car watching out to make sure the humans don’t do anything stupid and an attentive driver watching out to make sure the car doesn’t do anything stupid.

This could be what happened. It was one of the thoughts I had. The crazy thing is, I could have moved out of the way much quicker but I found myself trying to allow my car to react to the situation. Maybe it didn't because it already knew I had turned the wheel to avoid the impact.

 

[RedModel3]

Similar thing happened to me, and I was surprised that I got no kind of warning at all. I wasn't using EAP, so maybe as drj3 said, I reacted before the car had a chance to. I have noticed that EAP is not the quickest to respond, so maybe the collision stuff isn't that quick either. Just another case of remaining attentive.

 

[Az_Rael]

Looking at the side collision info on the Model S page (could not find it on the 3 page) it implies it works with fast moving events. So not someone slowly moving into your lane where you had time to lay on your horn.

 

[ewoodrick]

It may be a situation where you reacted so the system didn’t have to. In videos I have seen the automatic side impact collision avoidance seems to take over at the last minute. It is likely that since you saw it coming, the system didn’t need to react.
At this point in the development of autopilot and safety features, the system is safest with the car watching out to make sure the humans don’t do anything stupid and an attentive driver watching out to make sure the car doesn’t do anything stupid.

I'll agree here. Think of most of the functions that you see of Autopilot everyday, don't you, the human, try to do it before the autopilot does?

The collision avoidance tends to kick in when probable is imminent. Humans kick in when they think that something is going to happen. My wife puts on her right seats brake long before I or the autopilot ever does.

 

[TankoftheNorth]

I'll agree here. Think of most of the functions that you see of Autopilot everyday, don't you, the human, try to do it before the autopilot does?

The collision avoidance tends to kick in when probable is imminent. Humans kick in when they think that something is going to happen. My wife puts on her right seats brake long before I or the autopilot ever does.

I think this is a design issue then. While I agree this makes sense in functionality, I believe there should be something that indicates to the driver that the possible collision was detected. If a car directly to my left suddenly veers into my lane, I want to know that my car sensed it even if I acted in a timely manner. This can be a visual alert on the monitor. This is a piece of mind thing and would leave no doubt that the system is working in the user's mind.

 

[acoste]

I'll agree here. Think of most of the functions that you see of Autopilot everyday, don't you, the human, try to do it before the autopilot does?

The collision avoidance tends to kick in when probable is imminent. Humans kick in when they think that something is going to happen. My wife puts on her right seats brake long before I or the autopilot ever does.

The software has to take the reaction time of a human in account. This means, it should warn as soon as possible and in advance. It can't wait for the inevitable.

 

[suwaneedad]

I think this is a design issue then. While I agree this makes sense in functionality, I believe there should be something that indicates to the driver that the possible collision was detected. If a car directly to my left suddenly veers into my lane, I want to know that my car sensed it even if I acted in a timely manner. This can be a visual alert on the monitor. This is a piece of mind thing and would leave no doubt that the system is working in the user's mind.

If I were you, I would call Tesla and log a service ticket, providing the date/time of the incident. Tesla can pull the logs of what the car was seeing/doing in that moment. I wouldn't bet on Tesla "fixing" your car, if it has an issue, but your case can help Tesla developers as they continue to hone what the car does in various scenarios. I agree that an audible indication from the car, letting you know that the car saw something even though you ended up avoiding an accident "all by yourself" would be preferable here. Hell, if for no other reason than to instill confidence in drivers and to reduce service center tickets for this sort of thing!

 

[dendenyc]

not to derail the side collision thing but this weekend, I had an a-hole racer dip in font of me on the highway. I was on the accelerator but the M3 reacted faster than I could and slammed on the brake for half a second (that's how long it took for the a-hole to dip into another lane). It happen so quick and Im lucky there nobody was tailgating or they would have certainly rear-ended me.

 

[Knightshade]

FWIW I've only had side collision avoidance kick in once, when someone tried to merge over without looking in front of me- was on EAP at the time and the car very definitely moved on its own away from him... the guy finally realized and swerved back to his lane, and I then punched it to get the heck away from him... happened quick though.