Side Collision Avoidance?

[mrkisskiss]

I wondered if anyone had any information about where we are with HW2 cars and side collision avoidance? I know we have side collision warning (I hear it regularly on these narrow London streets) - but, as I recall, the AP1 car I had would actively steer away from a guaranteed side impact. It stopped me from accidentally driving into a bus once, for which I was most grateful.

No one seems to mentioned SCA in the list of AP2 missing features (we are yet to have auto high-beams or rain sensing wipers in the UK either)

But - specifically SCA - I'd have assumed this is more to do with ultrasonics than cameras, so presumably not really a AP1 vs AP2 difference? Have Tesla dropped the feature altogether?

 

[chillaban]

The avoidance is the manual now as of 17.26.76, but I think it came earlier, possibly 17.4 or so.

I've never had the avoidance itself trip, but I actually did have the car beep at me when I came really close to curbing my tires by poorly taking a cloverleaf.

 

[MIT_S60]

I had the car beep at me saying that collision was imminent when a motorcycle passed me splitting lanes on the freeway. I had a close call this past weekend changing lanes with a Subaru WRX STI that was driving erratically, and the car's side sensors were useless in my case. If I was as close to a car as the motorcycle was that passed me, I would not be able to avoid the collision by the time the beeping comes on.

 

[chillaban]

I'm not super impressed with the latency of the ultrasonic sensors. It has at least a half second lag I feel, and I agree, for any situations where you are rapidly approaching a side collision (e.g. two people making aggressive lane changes into each other), I have low confidence that the alert actually comes in time.

 

[Sterph]

Today, I entered the crowded GSP and nearly touched sides with a car changing into the same lane I was also changing into, a fraction of a second after I started. The only reason we didn't hit was because we both seemed to notice when our cars were inches from each other (He was slightly behind, with a smaller side view mirror. If he had been further forward, his car would have been close enough to hit my mirror.) and both pulled abruptly away.

The point is, my MS gave no audible warning, and surely did not actively avoid collision. Now, I do not know which exact circumstances restrict SCA engaging, such as when in the process of changing lanes. Still, such a situation would have been safer had the SCA activated, especially since it could have kept sensing any vehicles on my other side as well.

Overall, an adrenaline-inducing yet curious encounter I just wanted to share.

 

[appleguru]

My model S (AP2) also did not activate SCA when I almost merged into a car a few weeks back.

But it *did* activate and steer my car away from a carpool lane barrier that it thought I was getting too close to (was actually somewhat impressed by the smoothness of the warning and steering correction).

Not sure exactly what scenarios it works well in... but definitely don't count on it!

 

[mrkisskiss]

Interesting - so the consensus is that it is indeed an active safety feature that's working, as of the latest firmware, on our AP2 cars... but it hardly ever triggers?

I suppose it's good to know that it's still there on HW2, and might yet save the day... hopefully someone in Fremont is working on making it a bit more reliable!

IIRC the time I experienced it on HW1, it was incredibly smooth. I didn't really know what was going on for a fraction of a second - at which point a huge London bus loomed into view. The steering became very stiff, and I wasn't able to continue my left turn (into the bus lane)... then the car actively, but smoothly, steered itself to the right. All happened within the space of a couple of seconds... but I remember thinking "woah, ok - close call... thanks Tesla!". In my situation, no one would have been hurt - (it was very low speed - maybe 7-10mph) but I'd have lost a wing mirror and a few thousand quid on repairs.