Should have been more clear - I was referring to intelligence not being related to income or the ability to purchase expensive vehicles. I don’t think accidentally pressing the wrong pedal makes you a moron - just human.
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Sudden Unexpected Acceleration today
- Thread starter AZM3
- Start date
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Same. A few days ago, coming out of my driveway (steep, curved), I somehow hit the accelerator instead of the brake. I immediately knew what had happened, laughed at myself as I pressed the brake - and can say up til then, in 40+ years of driving, I have NEVER done that before. But I did it. And it wasn't because the pedals were too close together or anything like that. Just did it.
And it would have been my fault if I'd hit something.
That I think, is one of the biggest contributors to the denial of the problem. Nobody, at least nobody worth listening to, is suggesting that only a moron can be a victim of pedal misapplication. Those involved obviously know which pedal does what under most circumstances, but for whatever reason, most commonly distraction, they end up pressing the wrong pedal and double down when they experience the opposite reaction of what they expected. It isn't a problem unique to Tesla, but I do think the margin for successfully recovering is much lower with the instant torque.
Of course, every instance of Tesla SUA ends up in the news, because we all know that only Teslas catch fire, rear-end stopped vehicles or accelerate into buildings...
It's obviously a serious enough problem for the NHTSA to have done a study on it... before there were a bunch of Teslas on the road.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/nti/pdf/811597.pdf
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
I think this book is right on topic with respect to the current nanny state of affairs ... for adults and children alike
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FREE RANGE KIDS - has become a national movement, sparked by the incredible response to Lenore Skenazys piece about allowing her 9-year-old ride the subway alone in NYC. Parent groups argued about it, bloggers, blogged, spouses became uncivil with each other, and the media jumped all over it.
A lot of parents today, Skenazy says, see no difference between letting their kids walk to school and letting them walk through a firing range. Any risk is seen as too much risk. But if you try to prevent every possible danger or difficult in your child?s everyday life, that child never gets a chance to grow up. We parents have to realize that the greatest risk of all just might be trying to raise a child who never encounters choice or independence.
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bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
I had someone tell me it was bordering on child abuse to let my then 17 year old travel out of state with another friend, to backpack in the back country. He'd spent weeks every summer backpacking, had good judgment, etc. (Though he did tell me about a new lesson he learned that trip, "Never pee out a fire that is downwind of your tent.")I think this book is right on topic with respect to the current nanny state of affairs ... for adults and children alike
.
FREE RANGE KIDS - has become a national movement, sparked by the incredible response to Lenore Skenazys piece about allowing her 9-year-old ride the subway alone in NYC. Parent groups argued about it, bloggers, blogged, spouses became uncivil with each other, and the media jumped all over it.
A lot of parents today, Skenazy says, see no difference between letting their kids walk to school and letting them walk through a firing range. Any risk is seen as too much risk. But if you try to prevent every possible danger or difficult in your child?s everyday life, that child never gets a chance to grow up. We parents have to realize that the greatest risk of all just might be trying to raise a child who never encounters choice or independence.
I guarantee he was more experienced/skilled than the majority of people heading into the backcountry. But I was criticized for it, which was ridiculous. He grew up playing in the hills around Boulder, CO & I will always be thankful that we lived somewhere where I could let him free range.
So if you'll all excuse a thread derail, I'll tell you overall philosophy I had with allowing him to take risks. When he was 5, he snapped a finger clean thru being towed on a skateboard behind a bike. He flew onto some rocks and finger broke. I asked him just wth he was thinking, and he said 'It was fun'. Not much I could say to that, since I've jumped out of planes for much of my adult life. So we discussed that if he'd thought about the risk, he could have had just as much fun being towed behind that bike next to a grassy field. And no broken finger.
The house rule from that day forward was that he could take risks, but he had to tell me that he first thought about what could go wrong & did what he could to lower the risk. And if it was still worth it, go for it. And the day I showed up at the ER where he was after breaking some ribs going off a cliff skiing, the first thing he said to me was, "Mom, I walked the landing before I did it. I wore a helmet. I just miscalculated at take off." Hahah. That was exactly what I wanted to hear.
Life should be an adventure. I didn't want him scared to participate. And I love the adult man he is now and how he is raising his own family.
No it won't be. Read OP's first post. You are perhaps new to this forum?
Dangit Bonnie, I hold you in high regard, but I gotta call you out on this one (purely as a PSA):
Upwind!!! Or a fire that your tent is downwind of... Also, don't #1 or #2 uphill from your campsite either...
Upwind!!! Or a fire that your tent is downwind of... Also, don't #1 or #2 uphill from your campsite either...
I thought the same thing. Although my self-taught philosophy is never pee on the fire to begin with.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Dangit Bonnie, I hold you in high regard, but I gotta call you out on this one (purely as a PSA):
Upwind!!! Or a fire that your tent is downwind of... Also, don't #1 or #2 uphill from your campsite either...
It was a long day
. Thanks for the corrections.
Man now I know why people stopped inviting me on camping trips...Dangit Bonnie, I hold you in high regard, but I gotta call you out on this one (purely as a PSA):
Upwind!!! Or a fire that your tent is downwind of... Also, don't #1 or #2 uphill from your campsite either...
Somewhat tangental to this thread... I had what felt like "SUA" just yesterday on my model s... I know better though ;-)
What actually happened was I was in full regen + braking coming off the highway to an exit ramp. Car hit a rough road spot and lost some traction, causing regen to drop to 0. This felt like the car accelerating all on its own, but actually was just the car now providing less stopping force (no more regen) and requiring harder breaking to slow the car the same amount.
I've had this happen twice now in a little over a year of ownership. It is definitely is a bit disorienting, but once you understand what is happening, it isn't scary or even particularly dangerous (as long as you are paying attention and ya know... driving).
What actually happened was I was in full regen + braking coming off the highway to an exit ramp. Car hit a rough road spot and lost some traction, causing regen to drop to 0. This felt like the car accelerating all on its own, but actually was just the car now providing less stopping force (no more regen) and requiring harder breaking to slow the car the same amount.
I've had this happen twice now in a little over a year of ownership. It is definitely is a bit disorienting, but once you understand what is happening, it isn't scary or even particularly dangerous (as long as you are paying attention and ya know... driving).
Quite a few Volt owners reported similar experiences over the years...their Volt "suddenly" accelerating with their foot off the pedals using regen to slow down when in fact it was regen turning off automatically due encountering rough roads that caused the speeding up sensation. The shift in momentum feels like it is accelerating.
Interestingly enough, I've never encountered such events driving the Bolt. GM must have changed something in engineering the Bolt's regen system that all but eliminated the sudden regen shutoff sensation I experience in my Volt.
arcus
Active Member
I've experienced this numerous times myself - usually when there's a dip or a bump in the pavement. It can be a bit startling if you're caught off-guard. I would not put in in the "car accelerated by itself" basket though - you need to adapt your driving habits to a powerful EV that Tesla is.
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shrspeedblade
Rideshare Monkey
Add one more to this, in fact I'm so used to it now I often anticipate and account for it based on the roughness/slipperiness of the road surface. I never viewed it as much of a problem (since I know why and adjust to it) but I think it's good if they mitigated it in the Bolt! Of course it's more pronounced in "low" (high regen) which is probably how most people drive anyway.
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favo
P3D+ owner
Can you elaborate? Is this a case of traction control reducing regen to 0, because otherwise the wheels would lock up? Or are you saying regen just wasn't effective due to the lack of traction on the road surface?
This podcast is excellent and anybody who is on the fence on this topic should listen to it. (EDIT: EVERYONE should listen to it). I just subscribed to this podcast in my podcast app and downloaded all 24 episodes. Thanks for turning me on to this. I now have something to obsess over besides waiting for my car! (less than 48 hours now!!!)
Let me describe in a bit more detail how my near rear collision occurred while auto parking, and Tesla's analysis of my data log.
I back into my parking spaces every morning in the parking structure at the hospital where I work. While backing up I use my foot on the brake, releasing it and pressing it as needed to allow my 2017 Model S to "creep" slowly back wards until I am close to the wall behind me. I use the rear camera, and direct visual observation to determine my position. If I am backing up between two cars, the automatic Parking notice may come up, which is what it did last week. I normally ignore it but just out of curiosity tried it when my incident occurred. As noted when I reported this incident, the first time I tried this it worked, but the next day when I tried it a second time. In order to initiate auto park , I must keep my foot on the brake and either click the start button on the screen, or "not this time" button on the screen. Last week when I tried this, I clicked start on the screen, lifted my foot off the brake, and as soon as I noticed the alarming speed at which the back up was occurring, I quickly pressed down on the brake again, fortunately only gently hitting the back wall with no damage. Typical reaction time for something like this is between 300-500 msecs, which is probably about the total time for this entire event. I allowed the auto park to begin when I was about 3-4 feet from the back wall of the garage. As quick as my reaction time is, it would have been physically impossible for me to lift my foot off the brake, push the accelerator and then return my foot to the brake without a full force crash into the back wall within the time between hitting start and stopping the car. I reported this immediately to Tesla who downloaded the log.
After a week, my local service center, ( which I like a lot by the way) , wrote to me saying that the log indicated the the driver "pressed the accelerator." You be the judge: I believe the technician was accurately reporting what the log said, but I suggest that the reading from the log did not distinguish between the acceleration generated by its own algorithm, and me as the driver pressing the accelerator. For those of you on this forum who have been skeptical of these reports of unwarranted acceleration I invite you to try this yourself, and even if the back up speed seems to be working normally see whether you would have the time to release start the auto park, release the brake, depress the accelerator and hit the brake again without hitting a barrier 3-4 feet behind you and damaging your bumper. I am guessing that I will have few takers on this challenge as it would be a foolish and dangerous experiment to try for most of us (if you do, and you damage your rear bumper, don't blame me). I wrote back to the technician thanking him for his response, and outlining why I was skeptical of this reading.
I am sure, even with these details laid out those of you who are inveterate skeptics will continue to doubt this, but I suggest that anyone using auto park be extremely vigilant and cautious during the procedure. I for one will not be using auto park again. I park just fine on my own.
I back into my parking spaces every morning in the parking structure at the hospital where I work. While backing up I use my foot on the brake, releasing it and pressing it as needed to allow my 2017 Model S to "creep" slowly back wards until I am close to the wall behind me. I use the rear camera, and direct visual observation to determine my position. If I am backing up between two cars, the automatic Parking notice may come up, which is what it did last week. I normally ignore it but just out of curiosity tried it when my incident occurred. As noted when I reported this incident, the first time I tried this it worked, but the next day when I tried it a second time. In order to initiate auto park , I must keep my foot on the brake and either click the start button on the screen, or "not this time" button on the screen. Last week when I tried this, I clicked start on the screen, lifted my foot off the brake, and as soon as I noticed the alarming speed at which the back up was occurring, I quickly pressed down on the brake again, fortunately only gently hitting the back wall with no damage. Typical reaction time for something like this is between 300-500 msecs, which is probably about the total time for this entire event. I allowed the auto park to begin when I was about 3-4 feet from the back wall of the garage. As quick as my reaction time is, it would have been physically impossible for me to lift my foot off the brake, push the accelerator and then return my foot to the brake without a full force crash into the back wall within the time between hitting start and stopping the car. I reported this immediately to Tesla who downloaded the log.
After a week, my local service center, ( which I like a lot by the way) , wrote to me saying that the log indicated the the driver "pressed the accelerator." You be the judge: I believe the technician was accurately reporting what the log said, but I suggest that the reading from the log did not distinguish between the acceleration generated by its own algorithm, and me as the driver pressing the accelerator. For those of you on this forum who have been skeptical of these reports of unwarranted acceleration I invite you to try this yourself, and even if the back up speed seems to be working normally see whether you would have the time to release start the auto park, release the brake, depress the accelerator and hit the brake again without hitting a barrier 3-4 feet behind you and damaging your bumper. I am guessing that I will have few takers on this challenge as it would be a foolish and dangerous experiment to try for most of us (if you do, and you damage your rear bumper, don't blame me). I wrote back to the technician thanking him for his response, and outlining why I was skeptical of this reading.
I am sure, even with these details laid out those of you who are inveterate skeptics will continue to doubt this, but I suggest that anyone using auto park be extremely vigilant and cautious during the procedure. I for one will not be using auto park again. I park just fine on my own.
Yes, we will since the dual pedal sensors are logged separately from the autopark command.
This:
is incorrect.
Curiosity on my part:
So you were already mostly in the spot?
