Agreed. I don't believe they give a false sense of security. I'd suggest that if they catch something you don't, then it's time to start paying more attention, or perhaps take that car handling class you've been putting off taking.
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Parking and Blind Spot sensors/assist
- Thread starter VCanucks
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
Agreed. I don't believe they give a false sense of security. I'd suggest that if they catch something you don't, then it's time to start paying more attention, or perhaps take that car handling class you've been putting off taking.
mknox
Well-Known Member
Tesla (more likely Elon himself) decided what we would get and what we wouldn't. I've never had power operating door handles and never needed them either. I guess we get what we get and we after-market want we didn't get (and want).
anticitizen13.7
Not posting at TMC after 9/17/2018
I am somewhat skeptical of blind spot monitors. On the one hand, I've read some people say that they are not very accurate, but on the other hand, it may be better than nothing on a car that has bad blind spots. My Civic has generally good visibility for lane changes, but I don't know if that's the case for something like a Model S.
Backup cameras are another story though. I do wish I had one because of neighbor's pets. I can see people and cars out of my rear window. I cannot see something like a dog or a cat that happens to stroll behind my car because they are too short. Having a backup camera to act as a lower rear "window" also should help with parallel parking.
Raffy.Roma
Rome (Italy)
It comes a moment that you can avoid an accident because you have electronic help. Maybe it will happen in 20 years but in my opinion one day it will happen.
I never said I turn them off or ignore warnings from them. What I meant was that I just don't put all my trust in them. I think there's people that rely solely on these systems and that's going to get you into trouble.
When I'm switching lanes, I look at all the relevant mirrors and physically look as well (which is on top of just always being aware of all my surroundings, knowing where all the vehicles are behind me and in the lanes next to me, which is usually very easy to do when you're always in the left hand lane and the fastest person on the road at any given time lol ). And when I'm backing up, I physically turn around and look at whats there and watch where I'm going as I back up.
I don't rely on the little blind spot monitoring light in my wife's SUV's side mirrors to trust there isn't actually a smaller vehicle or motorcycle there or that someones isn't speeding up from behind at a high rate that system is just not going to catch in time; and I'm not going to stare at a backup camera screen and trust that its going to stop me from hitting anything or anyone hitting me, especially since every vehicle I've driven in that has one the image is either distorted, unclear, or has too narrow of a field of view; and in my Range Rover that camera was atrociously slow - I would be in reverse and backed up and out of the spot before it even came on. I never said 'hey if the lights blinking or audible sounds are going off that I'm just going to ignore it and change lanes anyway'. That's just being ignorant as well as likely cause an accident. It's beeping for a reason. Or bad programming.
I know they've given false positives on like a tree branch or leaf or something stupid, but I definitely won't put all my faith into it and trust that a 'false negative' will never happen either. It's just being a good and cautious driver IMHO to always be aware of your surroundings, and not to rely in these systems alone, and certainly not stare at a backup camera while you're backing up. I mean c'mon, no backup camera I've ever seen is going to stop you from being broadsided because you were too stupid to actually physically look and notice there was a car coming down the road when you were backing out of your driveway. Nor would a backup warning sensor likely pick up some odd thin structure poking out of a wall or object that would puncture your vehicle. If you know somethings there (e.g. you SHOULD look before you backup into a parking spot against a wall and know whats physically there before doing so), then you should know your vehicle enough to know how far you can back up while staying in the safe zone without even needing any camera or sensor. Get out and look a couple times if you have to. If you rely on a warning system and that object was not picked up, and you just keep backing up because the car isn't beeping at you, well have fun fixing your bumper. I told ya so. Besides, what if a fuse to that system blew and it was disabled without your knowledge? What if you had mud or some type of junk affecting the sensors on your bumpers?
Again, for all these reasons, I just won't trust these systems completely, and I'd never explicitly pay extra for them either. Sure, some beeping might help out in some situations. But cars aren't completely autonomous yet and it's not like they're going to get you out of every jam. Who knows if there's a software glitch in there some where. I guess what I'm trying to say is that for some people, I think that it will just make a bad driver even worse.
I commented to the Tesla Service Center in Costa Mesa, CA, that the car lacks the parktronics and for this type of vehicle, it should definitely have it. I had it in my previous vehicle and rely on it. According to the Service Manager, there doesn't seem to be any plans to incorporate that into this model, since there is a camera. Are you telling me that a software update may be in the works and then we will have parktronics? That would be awesome!!!!
Agreed. These are driver assist features, not driver replacement features. I would welcome them, and I think they can enhance your awareness, but they are not a replacement for good habits.
That said, in our lifetimes (even now), we're going to see cars that can park themselves, drive themselves, read traffic signs, deal with irregularities, and even do things people can't, like communicate with all the other cars and traffic devices around, get information beamed from space (!!!) etc etc.
That said, in our lifetimes (even now), we're going to see cars that can park themselves, drive themselves, read traffic signs, deal with irregularities, and even do things people can't, like communicate with all the other cars and traffic devices around, get information beamed from space (!!!) etc etc.
Why do I find this depressing rather than exciting? I think it's the loss of certain skills to automation and technology. Must be a side effect of getting old.
100 years I ago I probably would have said "I don't need no dang electric starter, real drivers hand crank their engines."
dennis
Model S Plaid
I highly doubt that parking sensors would be a software-only upgrade, for 2 reasons. First, when I had my aftermarket sensors installed, no wiring was found in either front or rear bumpers. Second, a Tesla engineer I spoke with told me that they were just at the discussion stage on how to provide this option.
They may have provisioned connection points in the wiring harness for parking sensors, but the sensors themselves and the wiring would have to be added.
I guess we'll have to wait to find out anyways, it was the manager at the Bellevue store who claimed that he had seen himself the sensors placed in the production versions
I may have to follow-up on that discussion to see what else I can squeeze out of him. Thanks for the heads up.
I'll disagree with you, @yobigd20, on the usefulness of the rear back-up camera as a primary tool in the Model S. When backing up at slow speed, the rear camera has much better visibility than I can in the driver's seat, by virtue of the lens being closer to the rear. Giving up on using reflected light, rather than processed light, took a lot of getting used to, but I now realize that I can learn far more about the situation behind me from the center console than by trying to piece info from three separate mirrors (especially with the short rear window). I think there's a material difference between making your own judgments based on superior visuals, compared to have a little light giving you a yes/no about the safety of a maneuver. Why are photons reflected against glass intrinsically more reliable than photons run through a camera system? I can, after all, instantly tell if the camera isn't working properly.
agreed..... When backing out of the garage for example, I can see through the camera around the corner well before I am able through direct vision.
Brett
Member
The same thing occurred to me this morning. It seems that because the camera can "see" in the blind spot areas, it would be a software update to use that information provided by the camera and surface an alert on the dash and/or audibly. The way it could work is a subtle flash when someone's in your blind spot, and when you activate the lane change turn signal, it would flash brighter and chime at you. Would be curious to know if Tesla is working on this, and if the camera alone is enough of a sensor to satisfy whatever governing body (NHTSB?) certifies these type of safety features.
mknox
Well-Known Member
One of the things I've noticed with my rear-view camera is that if it's snowing, or it gets dirty, there are some fairly large artifacts and blockages in the view. I wouldn't want to have the thing beeping and buzzing at me just because the lens is dirty and it thinks it's an object in a blind spot area.
This isn't a criticism of the idea. I've also had ultrasonic park assist sensors go off-line when the bumper (and sensors) get crusted over with ice in the winter.
I was told the same during my test drive in Bellevue, WA. That ACB and blind spot were in the car but not yet enabled. Seems unlikely to me but I would love to be surprised. If there was one way that Elon could generate more rabid loyalty from owners that would be to light up functionality we never knew we had in the car. Maybe it is just the case that they haven't had a chance to write all the firmware needed to make use of the hardware.
This is the kind of stuff many of us hoped for with the "under your nose" tease.
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