No chime for blindspot in 2019.5.15

[Nhawk]

2019.5.15 is supposed to add a chime when there is a car in the blindspot and you turn on the blinker (in that direction).
I just tested it a few times and while the lane goes red, there is no chime heard (and I have the chime turned on under "Autopilot" screen")
I heard that others are missing the chime too. The question is does anyone have it working or does it only work under some other conditions (actually moving the car into the next lane?)

 

[PLUGZIN]

I believe with the prior release that first had the chime; the chime sounded when you turn on blinker in direction of blindspot. But with 5.15 I have only seen it turn red but no chime. The manual says it chimes if you start to change lanes; I haven't tested that yet. I think it would be better to alert with chime when there is car in blindspot instead of waiting until you start to change lanes (if that is indeed how it works now). I will be interested to see what others think.

 

[hugh_jassol]

No no no.

When you put the blinker on, the lane line and the car in your blind spot turn red. Then if you start to actually cross the lane line you will get the warning chime.

The chime is a "collision warning" just like when you are approaching a car in front of you too fast. For example, you don't get the forward collision warning chime every time a car is in front of you and you are moving forward, that would be silly. You get it when there's an actual danger of a collision.

Just imagine how annoying it would be if every time there was a car in your blind spot and you put the blinker on it beeped at you. It would make driving in most metro area rush hours maddening.

 

[Nhawk]

I would prefer to have it as an option (to beep all the time or only when I'm about to crash into someone), because on my Audi, I get a series of flashes from the mirror if I turn on the blinker. Since Tesla shows it on the screen, but I'm unlikely to look at it (or notice the red lines) when I'm trying to change lanes, I would prefer a soft chime to accompany the red line and maybe a louder more annoying chime when I'm about to crash into someone by initiating the lane change.

 

[brandonee916]

It's definitely a collision warning and less chime.... I'd say it's more like a loud warning tone. It's totally scared me the first time I heard it

 

[PLUGZIN]

Hugh, I'm mostly in agreement with you. I too would not want a loud chime everytime I was near a vehicle in front of me or in the blind spot. Perhaps I didn't state it well in my earlier post. I am comparing what I would like to see our M3's do with respect to my wife's Nissan Rogue (other ICE vehicles have similar schemes). In that vehicle; if there is a vehicle in a blind spot and the turn signal is on - it then gives a soft chime along a blinking light in the side mirror. Ideally in the M3 I would like to see Tesla light up the blind spot vehicle in red (when the signal is on) as it does now plus give a soft tone alerting the driver of a condition to look for - that would give a heads up to check the screen. Should the driver then proceed to change lanes; then a loud chime would be in order. So sorry if my first post created any confusion.

 

[OCR1]

My car exhibits the same behavior as the OPs. I have yet to hear the chime come on once. In any other car I’ve driven with blind spot detection, if I activate my turn signal and there is a car in my blind spot I get an audible warning. Waiting until I’ve almost hit the car in my blind spot makes no sense to me. If I always use my turn signal prior to switching lanes, and I check with the side view mirror before activating my turn signal to make sure I have room, I should virtually never hear a chime anyway. That is how I wish it worked. The way it is now I find virtually useless.

 

[BigD0g]

Chime has stopped working for me on 2019.8 as well, maybe disable it and reenable it feels like typical Tesla qa

 

[jsmay311]

For someone who hasn’t gotten any of these software versions yet...

Is it correct to say that some people with a 2019.5.X software version started getting a “chime” when they turned on their turn signal with a car in their blind spot, but then a later software version (possibly 2019.5.15) removed this “chime” and left you only with a blaring collision alert “beep” if you actually started changing lanes and moving towards a vehicle in your blind spot/next to you?

 

[Holo]

On a recent vacation to California I rented a Hyundai Sonata. It came equipped with a feature that activated an audible chime whenever I indicated a lane change with the stalk (but before I actually started to move over) and there was a car anywhere near my blind spot. I can confirm that it was utterly maddening!! I would MUCH prefer the Tesla approach of only using the audible chime as a collision warning feature when you actually start to move into space that is already occupied by another vehicle.

 

[Snow Drift]

Just upgrade the mirrors to have a light up icon that flashes like most other cars. This is getting overly complicated with red lines on a screen that isn't located where anyone looks.

 

[Magnets!]

So I wonder how many accidents are being caused by people trying to test this feature. Ridiculous.

 

[Knightshade]

Just upgrade the mirrors to have a light up icon that flashes like most other cars. This is getting overly complicated with red lines on a screen that isn't located where anyone looks.

that costs actual money so there's a roughly 0% chance of it happening

 

[hugh_jassol]

For someone who hasn’t gotten any of these software versions yet...

Is it correct to say that some people with a 2019.5.X software version started getting a “chime” when they turned on their turn signal with a car in their blind spot, but then a later software version (possibly 2019.5.15) removed this “chime” and left you only with a blaring collision alert “beep” if you actually started changing lanes and moving towards a vehicle in your blind spot/next to you?

No. It has always worked the same (in 2019.5.4 and now 2019.5.15). You put your blinker on. If someone is in your blindspot, then the lane line AND the blindspot-car in the display turn RED. If you then start to cross the lane boundary (that is your tires physically touch the lane boundary), it will chime, warning you to stop changing lanes.

[THE FOLLOWING IS NOT DIRECTED AT YOU, @jsmay311 ]

I have no idea why this is so difficult.

This is EXACTLY the same as the other safety features, like the forward collision warning. The FCW does NOT go off every time there is a car in front you. It only goes off when it detects that you'd need to take action (brake harder than normal) to avoid the collision. Likewise. The blindspot warning chimes when you NEED TO TAKE ACTION to avoid the collision.

Whether someone thinks this is the way it should be or not is just opinion. The fact is, this is the way it works and seems to be the way Tesla intended it to work.

In my opinion, this is how it should be. It is not meant to be a substitute for looking in your blind spot for you. Warnings should be only for things for which I take action... this is human interface 101. Warnings when unnecessary lead to 'warning overload' and then get ignored because the thing goes off all the time. It's like warning dialogs on computers... tons of people just click "OK" because they get 20 warning dialogs a day that get in their way/distract them. However, if the only time you got one was when clicking "OK" actually destroyed, permanent altered something, or cost you money, then people would certainly pay attention to them.

 

[ebwb]

No. It has always worked the same (in 2019.5.4 and now 2019.5.15). You put your blinker on. If someone is in your blindspot, then the lane line AND the blindspot-car in the display turn RED. If you then start to cross the lane boundary (that is your tires physically touch the lane boundary), it will chime, warning you to stop changing lanes.

[THE FOLLOWING IS NOT DIRECTED AT YOU, @jsmay311 ]

I have no idea why this is so difficult.

This is EXACTLY the same as the other safety features, like the forward collision warning. The FCW does NOT go off every time there is a car in front you. It only goes off when it detects that you'd need to take action (brake harder than normal) to avoid the collision. Likewise. The blindspot warning chimes when you NEED TO TAKE ACTION to avoid the collision.

Whether someone thinks this is the way it should be or not is just opinion. The fact is, this is the way it works and seems to be the way Tesla intended it to work.

In my opinion, this is how it should be. It is not meant to be a substitute for looking in your blind spot for you. Warnings should be only for things for which I take action... this is human interface 101. Warnings when unnecessary lead to 'warning overload' and then get ignored because the thing goes off all the time. It's like warning dialogs on computers... tons of people just click "OK" because they get 20 warning dialogs a day that get in their way/distract them. However, if the only time you got one was when clicking "OK" actually destroyed, permanent altered something, or cost you money, then people would certainly pay attention to them.

In my opinion, Tesla's current blind spot detection ability, through ultrasonics and cameras, is not consistent enough to reliably alert the driver of a vehicle in the blind spot every time there's an approaching vehicle. For this reason, the system is set up only to alert the driver of impending last minute near misses as detected by the ultrasonics.

Blind spot warning systems implemented on all other vehicles use a more reliable radar system with much greater reach. They can detect fast-moving traffic coming from behind. They help improve situational awareness through indicators on the mirrors, and only sound an alarm when a vehicle is detected *and* the turn signal is active.

When Tesla's camera-based system improves reliability and consistency, perhaps they will move to audible alerts of this type. For now, best to check your blindspots... as one should.

 

[halfricanguy]

The issue is, I’m pretty sure the system has difficulty determining if the traffic next to you is oncoming or in your direction of travel.

I haven’t been able to confirm with this recent software update, but when blind spot monitoring was first released, if I was in a left turn lane with my left signal on, and the lane to my left is traffic in the opposing direction, the left lane on the screen would highlight red as it was still triggering blind spot awareness.

Somewhat similar situation, is if you are in a multi-left turn lane and are in the right-most lane, it would set off the alert because technically there is a car to your left as you’re turning even though you are all turning into your own lane. So having the alert beep at you in this situation would definitely be obnoxious.