Tesla prevented me from rear ending car

[JetFalcon]

So I was driving in some heavy traffic around the Newport Beach CA area. Mainly that part where you go from beach to 55 freeway, and it was bumper to bumper traffic. I was tired, so I dosed off. And then I moved forward, dosed off while moving, and the Tesla gave me a warning and I hit the brake immediately.

Somehow the Tesla anticipated I was about to rear end another car so it gave me that warning chime. Like the chime you may hear when autopilot fails and car requires you to take over immediately. If I did not have that warning, it could have been possible I rear ended that car b/c I dosed off pretty good. I think mainly b/c I woke early and I just had a long day being outside.

But yeah, even with just normal non autopilot, it seems the car is always aware and still gives you warning. Does this mean the car can apply brakes on its own if I really kept dosing off and not do anything?

 

[M109Rider]

Glad to hear the car saved your bacon from a potentially costly bump.

 

[WarpedOne]

Does this mean the car can apply brakes on its own if I really kept dosing off and not do anything?

There are situations the car would do this but it would not necessarily go to dead stop not prevented the collision.
AEB is there to reduce the impact velocity, not eliminate it.

 

[mike92067]

Three years ago I fell asleep at the wheel while in bumper to bumper traffic in my Model S. I was "out" for probably 5 minutes. I had autopilot on and traffic was moving at a max of 5 miles per hour so I wasn't getting the warning chimes to grab the wheel. Scary but thankful I was in a Tesla with autopilot enabled.

 

[whatthe2]

So I was driving in some heavy traffic around the Newport Beach CA area. Mainly that part where you go from beach to 55 freeway, and it was bumper to bumper traffic. I was tired, so I dosed off. And then I moved forward, dosed off while moving, and the Tesla gave me a warning and I hit the brake immediately.

Somehow the Tesla anticipated I was about to rear end another car so it gave me that warning chime. Like the chime you may hear when autopilot fails and car requires you to take over immediately. If I did not have that warning, it could have been possible I rear ended that car b/c I dosed off pretty good. I think mainly b/c I woke early and I just had a long day being outside.

But yeah, even with just normal non autopilot, it seems the car is always aware and still gives you warning. Does this mean the car can apply brakes on its own if I really kept dosing off and not do anything?

See pages 86-87 in the manual for info on Forward Collision Warning (audible alert if a collision is likely) and Automatic Emergency Braking (will attempt to slow the car down if a collision is considered unavoidable).

 

[ngogas]

If you’re going on less then 20 miles does the car come to a stop if it detects an object like most other cars?

 

[KenF]

If you’re going on less then 20 miles does the car come to a stop if it detects an object like most other cars?

In 2018.x software releases, Tesla would break and stop on its own only when Autopilot was engaged. In the 2018.x software, with Autopilot disengaged, a Tesla will not come to a stop to avoid a collision. It is unclear whether that has changed in the 2019.x software.

As understand it, Tesla will have to add automatic emergency breaking this year to continue to score well (5 stars) in the NHTSA safety tests, as the NHTSA will soon test for that functionality and factor the results into its safety scores.

 

[djgarrett21]

I had a similar experience on the freeway. Going about 70 mph and thought I had Autopilot engaged. I let myself get distracted and the vehicle in front suddenly braked. AEB took me from 70 mph to nearly zero and avoided what would have certainly been a rear end collision. I thought AEB wasn't supposed to have this functionality (avoiding collision, only slowing enough to mitigate it) but it did. Maybe I just got lucky and ABE slowed with enough force to almost stop me when it shouldn't have, I don't know.

My fault for not knowing the status of AP and getting distracted. I've been driving for a few decades and have never been at fault in a collision, my M3 saved me from what would have been my first.

Edit: I was on firmware 2018.50.6 at the tine.

 

[4EVar]

So I was driving in some heavy traffic around the Newport Beach CA area. Mainly that part where you go from beach to 55 freeway, and it was bumper to bumper traffic. I was tired, so I dosed off. And then I moved forward, dosed off while moving, and the Tesla gave me a warning and I hit the brake immediately.

Somehow the Tesla anticipated I was about to rear end another car so it gave me that warning chime. Like the chime you may hear when autopilot fails and car requires you to take over immediately. If I did not have that warning, it could have been possible I rear ended that car b/c I dosed off pretty good. I think mainly b/c I woke early and I just had a long day being outside.

But yeah, even with just normal non autopilot, it seems the car is always aware and still gives you warning. Does this mean the car can apply brakes on its own if I really kept dosing off and not do anything?

This happened to me today. I was daydreaming, and the car ahead of me decided to stop to turn. I didn't even notice. Got the chime and immediately braked.

 

[halfricanguy]

It was probably the same chime you hear while backing up or maneuvering around things closely. As you get closer to an object (wall, car, pillar, etc.) it goes from a warning chime to an aggressive alert beep.

I don’t think there’s any circumstance other than forward collision when the car will attempt to stop/brake down to 25 mph (unless you’re on Autopilot, but I don’t think it monitors things from the back right now). Side collision avoidance is there but I think it just swerves you out of the way.

 

[brur]

I know the 3 will blare a chime at you if you maintain pressure on the go pedal when a car is slowing , in my case the car in front was exiting the road, I knew it would clear the road so I didn't slow and bam the alarm rings.

 

[ngogas]

I hope they add automatic stop like other cars do. Be nice to avoid rear ending at 20 less miles.

 

[lolder]

I hope they add automatic stop like other cars do. Be nice to avoid rear ending at 20 less miles.

On TACC or EAP/AP it will come to a complete stop.

 

[afadeev]

I just wonder, how many of you folks that "got saved" have initiated multiple rear-end collisions in previous vehicles?

If a lot - humanity thanks you for buying a car with collision warning!
If not - you might just be getting complacent with driving?


a