This is how it works:
Any light or stop sign it recognizes (or thinks it recognizes as one) you get a distance countdown. I’ve gotten anywhere from 25 to 700 feet depending on various circumstances, like when I engaged TACC or AP relative to the light/stop sign, how quickly it was able to identify a light/stop sign, whether there was another vehicle directly ahead of me etc... Most often the warning was 600 ft if the road ahead was clear.
Once you indicate the vehicle should NOT stop, it goes. Period. End of story. The only situations I’ve so far encountered where it won’t go is if a) there is a vehicle/obstacle directly in front of me, in which case it follows/stops according to TACC/AP rules FIRST and then lights/stop sign rules SECOND or b) it gets confused/is uncertain.
Example of b) - car indicated it was going to stop for a traffic (something — the exact word escapes me at this moment) in 300ft. I tapped the accelerator to indicate the car should not stop because there was no reason for it to stop at the railway tracks.
Car picked up speed then quickly indicated again it was going to stop for a traffic something in 200ft. I tapped the accelerator, car picked up speed again. Car indicated a third time it was going to stop for a traffic something in 100ft. I tapped the accelerator, car picked up speed and went over the tracks. I then pulled over, lowered my window and puked.
Never once did it slow or stop moving for a change of light from green to yellow or yellow to red once I’d tapped the accelerator. I’m not inclined to go through intersections on yellow lights as a general rule, but I did it a few times to see what would happen. It went.
I had a very interesting and uncommon situation show up that made me say; ‘And that Google/Waymo/dumb-dumbs is why you don’t geofence.
Every day I go through a two-way stop intersection. The way I go through it (going and coming back) I’m not required to stop, just the cross traffic. It’s a rather big intersection despite the cross road where most cars come from is a narrow, often one lane mountain backroad. However, that leads to a four lane road on the other side of the intersection. My direction is just two lanes, though the intersection grows to 6 lanes width in my direction.
Yes, it’s really funky designed because traffic on these 4 roads can be literally nothing for 10 miles in all directions to it takes 3 hours to go 1/2 a mile.
There have been A LOT of accidents at this intersection and in fact I almost got broad sided once myself. Three cheers for defensive driving training! I had no idea a mini van could handle like that when you needed it to.
Anyway back to my interesting, uncommon situation. I drove through the no lights intersection like always on my way to my destination. 4 hours later upon returning they’d started erecting traffic light poles, though they weren’t finished and the lights of course were not working.
At first it seemed my car would just plow through, but then finally at 300ft it recognized the light poles and started to slowdown, then it accelerated again having decided it made a mistake, then it slowed again at 200ft, then it accelerated again thinking it was wrong, and then finally at 100ft it decided it was in fact right and braked heavily to stop at which point I tapped the accelerator to indicate it should go through the not yet working lights. (Then I pulled over, rolled down my window and puked.)
I also had the car briefly mistake a crossroad stop sign as one it should obey. Not really the fault of the car, the sign was twisted and not fully facing the correct direction. In the end the car correctly decided it didn’t need to obey it.
I also had it briefly mistake a crosswalk type setup as a place it should stop.
Yes, I drove all over and drove a lot and threw every scenario at it I could come up with. (Got free Supercharging miles I need to use up before the Lord taketh away again.)
I think the feature is the cat’s meow. It’s not perfect as I’d not expect it to be, but so far the imperfection isn’t the wrong kind - as in it errs on the cautious side.
Buy and hold dummies.
