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Tesla autopilot punished me for going too fast

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So this was a first. While new to the Tesla, I learned you can press on the accelerator to go faster while on autopilot and it will still auto steer, and it will go back to its set cruising speed when you take foot off.

But this time, I accelerated too fast and I think I got up to 90 mph, and then it did the warning chime w/ the red steering wheel icon, warning me autopilot is discontinued and to take back control of car.

Then later I try turning autopilot on, and the car punishes me saying "autopilot unavailable for rest of drive, due to speeding". I was kinda nervous I was like banned for a day from using autopilot. So I had to exit the freeway and pull into a gas station to park, lock the car, unlock it, and go back in to start a new drive. And thankfully, it let me use autopilot when I parked the car and re-entered it. It's a minor inconvenience that's enough to teach a lesson, but at least it's much better than being banned for a week from using autopilot.

I didn't know you could be banned from using autopilot. What other types of punishments can the Tesla take against you to not use autopilot?
 
So this was a first. While new to the Tesla, I learned you can press on the accelerator to go faster while on autopilot and it will still auto steer, and it will go back to its set cruising speed when you take foot off.

But this time, I accelerated too fast and I think I got up to 90 mph, and then it did the warning chime w/ the red steering wheel icon, warning me autopilot is discontinued and to take back control of car.

Then later I try turning autopilot on, and the car punishes me saying "autopilot unavailable for rest of drive, due to speeding". I was kinda nervous I was like banned for a day from using autopilot. So I had to exit the freeway and pull into a gas station to park, lock the car, unlock it, and go back in to start a new drive. And thankfully, it let me use autopilot when I parked the car and re-entered it. It's a minor inconvenience that's enough to teach a lesson, but at least it's much better than being banned for a week from using autopilot.

I didn't know you could be banned from using autopilot. What other types of punishments can the Tesla take against you to not use autopilot?

ignoring the warnings to keep force on the steering wheel can lead to the same "ban." It resets when you put the car in park and get out.
 
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Autopilot will be disabled until you put the car in park and then back into drive if you ignore the second warning.

First, you will see flashing blue lights on the touchscreen along with a message that says "Apply light force to the steering wheel". This is the first warning. When you see that, you are supposed to push or wiggle the steering wheel or move the scroll buttons to confirm that you are still paying attention.

Then you will hear two beeps. This is your second warning. If you ignore that, it will show a red steering wheel image with a warning message in red that says Autopilot is disabled. See the video here.
 
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I assume it's a technical issue of AP not able to work over 90 reloably. But it should not be a jail. I have had it a few times when needing to avoid an accident, someone swerving, ext. The jail part is overkill. So now I have to pull over on the side of the highway to out the car in park... Much more unsafe!
 
I assume it's a technical issue of AP not able to work over 90 reloably. But it should not be a jail. I have had it a few times when needing to avoid an accident, someone swerving, ext. The jail part is overkill. So now I have to pull over on the side of the highway to out the car in park... Much more unsafe!

If they didn't have "jail", folks would feel much more willing to violate the 90 mph limit, leading to more accidents that they would blame on Autopilot for not working well enough at a speed Tesla doesn't think it can safely work at.

It's really not that hard to break out of AP while you're flooring it for minor emergencies, and if it's a major situation that comes up so fast you can't, driving by hand or stopping to enable really isn't that much of a sacrifice.
 
I assume it's a technical issue of AP not able to work over 90 reloably. But it should not be a jail. I have had it a few times when needing to avoid an accident, someone swerving, ext. The jail part is overkill. So now I have to pull over on the side of the highway to out the car in park... Much more unsafe!

Yes, for some reason I don't think that any of those excuses are going to fly with a police officer. As I found out once, the speed limit is the limit. That doesn't mean that you can go above it to pass.

No, you don't have to pull to the side of the highway, you can go to any safe place and stop. There is no law that requires you to use the autopilot, it may be better if you just drive without it for a little bit. Believe it or not, it is possible.
 
If they didn't have "jail", folks would feel much more willing to violate the 90 mph limit, leading to more accidents that they would blame on Autopilot for not working well enough at a speed Tesla doesn't think it can safely work at.

It's really not that hard to break out of AP while you're flooring it for minor emergencies, and if it's a major situation that comes up so fast you can't, driving by hand or stopping to enable really isn't that much of a sacrifice.

I am not saying don't flash red and throw up huge warnings. They should. Even keep flashing the warning for a few minutes after. My concern was not so much continued issues with going above 90, but rather the one offs. And no, the situations I need to go that fast, it typically is an emergency that I am not remembering to turn the stalk down.
 
Yes, for some reason I don't think that any of those excuses are going to fly with a police officer. As I found out once, the speed limit is the limit. That doesn't mean that you can go above it to pass.

No, you don't have to pull to the side of the highway, you can go to any safe place and stop. There is no law that requires you to use the autopilot, it may be better if you just drive without it for a little bit. Believe it or not, it is possible.

Come on let's not devolve into being condescending. For my experience, the times I have had it happen I was not intentionally just speeding along, it was an emergency. That being said, there are situations where bumping into 90 may be more common; I personally do not live somewhere that it would be. But as another poster said, some roads they drive are 80 or 85 mph. What about in Germany? Again not situations I deal with, but where speeds are close to 90 or even above, I could see this being a real annoyance.
 
Then later I try turning autopilot on, and the car punishes me saying "autopilot unavailable for rest of drive, due to speeding". I was kinda nervous I was like banned for a day from using autopilot. So I had to exit the freeway and pull into a gas station to park, lock the car, unlock it, and go back in to start a new drive. And thankfully, it let me use autopilot when I parked the car and re-entered it. It's a minor inconvenience that's enough to teach a lesson, but at least it's much better than being banned for a week from using autopilot.

Well at least you pulled off the main road. There are videos on YouTube of people stopping the middle of the highway just to reset the Autopilot ban.
 
Yes, for some reason I don't think that any of those excuses are going to fly with a police officer. As I found out once, the speed limit is the limit. That doesn't mean that you can go above it to pass.*

No, you don't have to pull to the side of the highway, you can go to any safe place and stop. There is no law that requires you to use the autopilot, it may be better if you just drive without it for a little bit. Believe it or not, it is possible.

* In Washington State, you can accelerate above the speed limit to overtake on a 2-lane road, and then return to the speed limit once you have finishing overtaking.
 
Come on let's not devolve into being condescending. For my experience, the times I have had it happen I was not intentionally just speeding along, it was an emergency. That being said, there are situations where bumping into 90 may be more common; I personally do not live somewhere that it would be. But as another poster said, some roads they drive are 80 or 85 mph. What about in Germany? Again not situations I deal with, but where speeds are close to 90 or even above, I could see this being a real annoyance.

Let's all be honest with ourselves here. I've been driving for 30-some years and I can tell you with a straight face there's no situation I have ever been in, or can imagine myself being in, where it was necessary to accelerate to 90mph. What was your originating speed? Likely speeding already? Could slowing down have accomplished nearly the same thing?

I say this as someone who speeds pretty much everywhere I go. It drives my wife nuts. I dunno, it just feels right. And I like it. So just admit that. On the interstates around Chicago, I'd say 80 is average, 85 is the Fast Guys, and at certain times (trying to beat rush hour) it's not uncommon to hook up with a like-minded guy doing 90 consistently.

I love our Pretend Speed Limits, and I think they work better than setting them high on purpose and telling people to have at it. Because this way everyone is aware they're on edge.

Which brings me back to my point above. If I'm doing 90 (which I do often enough), then I want my hands on the damn wheel, and I think yours should be too. I have a lot of experience at track days at triple digit speeds, and when you do that you gain an appreciation for the process.

To the OP, your eyes and brain are better at those speeds than the Autopilot. So at that speed, just avoid the Autopilot Jail problem altogether by disengaging it for that purpose. It's your best decision.
 
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Let's all be honest with ourselves here. I've been driving for 30-some years and I can tell you with a straight face there's no situation I have ever been in, or can imagine myself being in, where it was necessary to accelerate to 90mph. What was your originating speed? Likely speeding already? Could slowing down accomplished nearly the same thing?

I say this a someone who speeds pretty much everywhere I go. It drives my wife nuts. I dunno, it just feels right. And I like it. So just admit that. On the interstates around Chicago, I'd say 80 is average, 85 is the Fast Guys, and at certain times (trying to beat rush hour) it's not uncommon to hook up with a like-minded guy doing 90 consistently.

I love our Pretend Speed Limits, and I think they work better than setting them high on purpose and telling people to have at it. Because this way everyone is aware they're on edge.

Which brings me back to my point above. If I'm doing 90 (which I do often enough), then I want my hands on the damn wheel, and I think yours should be too. I have a lot of experience at track days at triple digit speeds, and when you do that you gain an appreciation for the process.

To the OP, your eyes and brain are better at those speeds than the Autopilot. So at that speed, just avoid the Autopilot Jail problem altogether by disengaging it for that purpose. It's your best decision.

I appreciate the thorough response! Obviously everyone has different experiences. I have had times when overtaking a semi, when they started to drift into my lane and it was a situation where I felt accelerating was safer than braking. Honestly it is pretty rare. But I was on a highway in Vermont or NH whe the next exit was quite far away to pull off.

Also you said my hands should be on the wheel at those speeds; of course they are! AP or not, it's not full self driving!
 
I see the comments above "if I'm doing 90, I pretty much want to have my hands on the wheel" and "I want my hands on the damn wheel, and I think yours should be too."

My experience has been you are put into autopilot jail if you exceed 90 mph (or 95 mph) with AP on, even if you keep your hands on the steering wheel.

So AP jail is not trigged by driving over 90 mph with your hands off the steering wheel--is going over 90 with AP on alone enough to put you in AP jail ?

Also, for some reason I thought the limit was 95 mph instead of 90 mph (but could be wrong, that might have been the speed I was driving)?
 
is going over 90 with AP on alone enough to put you in AP jail ?

Also, for some reason I thought the limit was 95 mph instead of 90 mph (but could be wrong, that might have been the speed I was driving)?

Yes, going 90+ will put you in AP jail regardless if you're providing steering resistance or not. And yes, it's 90 not 95.
 
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Just put an orange in the steering wheel, or like i1Tesla on YouTube did with hanging a bag of coins on the wheel. I tried all that once, thought it was dangerous as it interfered with the wheel, now I just move the scroll wheels while driving as I do keep my hands on the wheel but not in the way Tesla wants you to (with torque applied)