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As most of you have already seen, Autopilot has detected similar situations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-5fKzmy38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-5fKz

As most of you have already seen, Autopilot has detected similar situations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-5fKzmy38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-5fKzmy38

ModernMech 10y ago
I don't know if autopilot really "saved the day" there. Maybe for an incompetent driver (which is most, so this is a net positive for safety). But as a human driver, I would have taken human psychology into account and guessed the turning car was going to take advantage of that gap, thus causing me to approach much more cautiously. I don't know how fast that tesla was going, but I don't think I'd be doing more than 5-10 mph in that kind of traffic. I would also expect cars in the right lane to unexpectedly switch into the left. It seems to me the Tesla was overconfident and going about 25 mph. edit: I feel like my tone here is too harsh (mainly because my personal reaction is that this autopilot feature is professionally irresponsible). Let me pull back my emotions a little and try again: The only reason the autopilot feature here "saved the day" is because it was driving in an irresponsible manner in the first place. As the comment below me points out, it was driving at 45 MPH, compared to the 5-15 MPH you should be driving. For a defensive human driver, there shouldn't have been a close call in the first place. The Tesla is driving irresponsibly because it cannot take into account human behavior. It stopped in time in this scenario, but there's obviously a point at which the stopped car could turn and the Tesla could not physically stop in time. This can happen at any speed, but the 45 MPH collision is much much worse than a 10 MPH collision. I'd also like to point out that the autopilot was likely breaking the law. The speed limit on that road is probably 55 - 65 MPH, but the speed limit indicats the maximum speed in perfect conditions. When it's dark and raining and heavy traffic, going the speed limit is in fact speeding. If the Tesla had hit the turning car, the driver of the Tesla would probably have been cited for speeding, even at 45 MPH.
- iplaw 10y ago
  It says in the comments/description that the Tesla was driving at about 45 mph, which is entirely too fast in a situation like this. You have a lane of stopped traffic directly adjacent to an open lane. People constantly swerve out of the stopped lane in situations like this. Further, it would have been common courtesy to stop and allow the car to turn and take advantage of the temporary gap in traffic. People allow me to turn in situations like this all the time, and I return the road karma when I can. Overall, it seems like quite a failing despite the avoidance of the accident.
- sampo 10y ago
  There were lots of lights and reflections, and it was night, and the turning car was black. Watching the video the first time, I didn't see the car before it was already in front of the camera. Watching the video second time and knowing what to expect, then I of course see the car in advance.
  - ModernMech 10y ago
    > There were lots of lights and reflections, and it was night All those factors indicate the car was going too fast given the conditions -- autopilot or not. It appears that in general, the Tesla AP does not take road and environmental conditions into account (or weigh them heavily at least). In this case, there was no collision in spite of the conditions. But this should have been a giant red flag for Tesla engineers. Unfortunately, the story at hand tells us that they're not doing their job. > Watching the video the first time, I didn't see the car before it was already in front of the camera. I didn't either, not at first. But given just the first frame and knowing a collision was about to be avoided, my first reaction was the autopilot was going to prevent a rear-end due to a short stop, or it was going to stop as someone merged in from the right lane. But you and I are not the driver of this car. The driver should have known the highway was not divided, should have known of the possibility for cross traffic, and he should have adjusted his behavior accordingly. I guarantee you there was also a sign (before the start of the video) indicating there is an opportunity for cross traffic ahead. Given that, those white headlights (they look reddish in the video, but in real life they would be bright white) should caution the driver that a car is probably looking to turn. The autopilot did not take any of this context into account, and that's exactly why someone is dead today. It's operating with superhuman reaction speed, but with the common sense and wisdom of a 10 year old.
gohrt 10y ago
> Was travelling a little under 45 mph. There was some rain, but roads were pretty dry. I was watching stopped traffic to my right. > I had an Uber passenger inattentive faux-professional driver, chatting up a client (gotta get that 5-star rating) instead of watching the toad, driving too fast in dark, wet, complicated conditions (line of stopped cars to the right).
mdorazio 10y ago
It's only similar in terms of "vehicle pulls in front of the Model S". The type of vehicle (car vs. truck), time of day, traffic pattern, etc. all seem to be quite different based on the sparse information in the article. I will also point out that as you have already seen, Autopilot failed in a "similar situation" as well: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tesla-s-summon-under-trailer/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tesla-s-summon-under-trail...

As most of you have already seen, Autopilot has detected similar situations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-5fKzmy38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X-5fKzmy38

ModernMech 10y ago

I don't know if autopilot really "saved the day" there. Maybe for an incompetent driver (which is most, so this is a net positive for safety). But as a human driver, I would have taken human psychology into account and guessed the turning car was going to take advantage of that gap, thus causing me to approach much more cautiously. I don't know how fast that tesla was going, but I don't think I'd be doing more than 5-10 mph in that kind of traffic. I would also expect cars in the right lane to unexpectedly switch into the left. It seems to me the Tesla was overconfident and going about 25 mph. edit: I feel like my tone here is too harsh (mainly because my personal reaction is that this autopilot feature is professionally irresponsible). Let me pull back my emotions a little and try again: The only reason the autopilot feature here "saved the day" is because it was driving in an irresponsible manner in the first place. As the comment below me points out, it was driving at 45 MPH, compared to the 5-15 MPH you should be driving. For a defensive human driver, there shouldn't have been a close call in the first place. The Tesla is driving irresponsibly because it cannot take into account human behavior. It stopped in time in this scenario, but there's obviously a point at which the stopped car could turn and the Tesla could not physically stop in time. This can happen at any speed, but the 45 MPH collision is much much worse than a 10 MPH collision. I'd also like to point out that the autopilot was likely breaking the law. The speed limit on that road is probably 55 - 65 MPH, but the speed limit indicats the maximum speed in perfect conditions. When it's dark and raining and heavy traffic, going the speed limit is in fact speeding. If the Tesla had hit the turning car, the driver of the Tesla would probably have been cited for speeding, even at 45 MPH.

iplaw 10y ago
It says in the comments/description that the Tesla was driving at about 45 mph, which is entirely too fast in a situation like this. You have a lane of stopped traffic directly adjacent to an open lane. People constantly swerve out of the stopped lane in situations like this. Further, it would have been common courtesy to stop and allow the car to turn and take advantage of the temporary gap in traffic. People allow me to turn in situations like this all the time, and I return the road karma when I can. Overall, it seems like quite a failing despite the avoidance of the accident.
sampo 10y ago
There were lots of lights and reflections, and it was night, and the turning car was black. Watching the video the first time, I didn't see the car before it was already in front of the camera. Watching the video second time and knowing what to expect, then I of course see the car in advance.
- ModernMech 10y ago
  > There were lots of lights and reflections, and it was night All those factors indicate the car was going too fast given the conditions -- autopilot or not. It appears that in general, the Tesla AP does not take road and environmental conditions into account (or weigh them heavily at least). In this case, there was no collision in spite of the conditions. But this should have been a giant red flag for Tesla engineers. Unfortunately, the story at hand tells us that they're not doing their job. > Watching the video the first time, I didn't see the car before it was already in front of the camera. I didn't either, not at first. But given just the first frame and knowing a collision was about to be avoided, my first reaction was the autopilot was going to prevent a rear-end due to a short stop, or it was going to stop as someone merged in from the right lane. But you and I are not the driver of this car. The driver should have known the highway was not divided, should have known of the possibility for cross traffic, and he should have adjusted his behavior accordingly. I guarantee you there was also a sign (before the start of the video) indicating there is an opportunity for cross traffic ahead. Given that, those white headlights (they look reddish in the video, but in real life they would be bright white) should caution the driver that a car is probably looking to turn. The autopilot did not take any of this context into account, and that's exactly why someone is dead today. It's operating with superhuman reaction speed, but with the common sense and wisdom of a 10 year old.

gohrt 10y ago

> Was travelling a little under 45 mph. There was some rain, but roads were pretty dry. I was watching stopped traffic to my right. > I had an Uber passenger inattentive faux-professional driver, chatting up a client (gotta get that 5-star rating) instead of watching the toad, driving too fast in dark, wet, complicated conditions (line of stopped cars to the right).

mdorazio 10y ago

It's only similar in terms of "vehicle pulls in front of the Model S". The type of vehicle (car vs. truck), time of day, traffic pattern, etc. all seem to be quite different based on the sparse information in the article. I will also point out that as you have already seen, Autopilot failed in a "similar situation" as well: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tesla-s-summon-under-trailer/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tesla-s-summon-under-trail...