Discussion
I passed a Tesla in lane 2 on the M40 earlier, with the driver either asleep or reading a very good book on his lap. I watched him for about 20 seconds from just behind him in lane 3 before pulling some way in front of him and gently slowing so his car closed the gap, at which point he looked up, I guess some sort of alarm went off in his vehicle.
These driver aids may have a place if they increase overall safety, however my fears are that this sort of behaviour may be encouraged by their presence. There's a lot more involved in safe motorway driving than keeping between the lines and not hitting the car directly in front.
I'm interested to know if anybody else has made similar observations.
These driver aids may have a place if they increase overall safety, however my fears are that this sort of behaviour may be encouraged by their presence. There's a lot more involved in safe motorway driving than keeping between the lines and not hitting the car directly in front.
I'm interested to know if anybody else has made similar observations.
Pippage said:
I passed a Tesla in lane 2 on the M40 earlier, with the driver either asleep or reading a very good book on his lap. I watched him for about 20 seconds from just behind him in lane 3 before pulling some way in front of him and gently slowing so his car closed the gap, at which point he looked up, I guess some sort of alarm went off in his vehicle.
These driver aids may have a place if they increase overall safety, however my fears are that this sort of behaviour may be encouraged by their presence. There's a lot more involved in safe motorway driving than keeping between the lines and not hitting the car directly in front.
I'm interested to know if anybody else has made similar observations.
I'm not so sure - there appears to be an alarming group of drivers who find keeping between the lines and a safe distance behind the car in front a difficult task.These driver aids may have a place if they increase overall safety, however my fears are that this sort of behaviour may be encouraged by their presence. There's a lot more involved in safe motorway driving than keeping between the lines and not hitting the car directly in front.
I'm interested to know if anybody else has made similar observations.
Playing devil's advocate...
The drivers who engage in this sort of behaviour are often those who aren't interested in driving anyway. If the systems are good and manage the safety of the occupants and surrounding people better than the driver would, then perhaps overall safety is improved?
I've seen plenty of people trying to read books in a variety of non-autonomous cars, after all.
The drivers who engage in this sort of behaviour are often those who aren't interested in driving anyway. If the systems are good and manage the safety of the occupants and surrounding people better than the driver would, then perhaps overall safety is improved?
I've seen plenty of people trying to read books in a variety of non-autonomous cars, after all.
DaveH23 said:
Are Tesla's self driving or have I missed something?
Some Radio 4 bod took one on the motorway this week. Tesla say the driver is responsible, but the car will stay in lane and not crash into the vehicle ahead. He said a white van undertook him and its driver performed a gesture at him, so they obviously don't stop you planting yourself in the wrong lane.A recent thread on here demonstrated that front radar can make a vehicle brake hard when it misinterprets an obstruction ahead.
Which is Not Good.
Bit late to this one but as an owner, the tesla auto pilot is essentially two things, active/radar/traffic aware cruise and auto steer.
The active cruise has been around for years on lots of cars, pretty useful in my opinion on motorways as it can measure the gap and how hard the car in front is braking or where they are just a brake twitcher much better/easier than the eye.
The steering just keeps you between 2 white lines.
It's no smarter than that but it would suit the middle lane driver very well who can nod off (although the car does want you to hold the wheel)
The active cruise has been around for years on lots of cars, pretty useful in my opinion on motorways as it can measure the gap and how hard the car in front is braking or where they are just a brake twitcher much better/easier than the eye.
The steering just keeps you between 2 white lines.
It's no smarter than that but it would suit the middle lane driver very well who can nod off (although the car does want you to hold the wheel)
mybrainhurts said:
Some Radio 4 bod took one on the motorway this week. Tesla say the driver is responsible, but the car will stay in lane and not crash into the vehicle ahead. He said a white van undertook him and its driver performed a gesture at him, so they obviously don't stop you planting yourself in the wrong lane.
A recent thread on here demonstrated that front radar can make a vehicle brake hard when it misinterprets an obstruction ahead.
Which is Not Good.
He also stated that he was doing 60mph in the middle lane...A recent thread on here demonstrated that front radar can make a vehicle brake hard when it misinterprets an obstruction ahead.
Which is Not Good.
KimJongHealthy said:
I think that's a truck driver trying to cover his back when he knows he's in deep doo-doo, to be honest. I'd be interested to know what Tesla are going to do to avoid similar incidents in future though.routari said:
Sounds like it needs a software update for Europe. Americans seem to like picking a lane and sticking there from what I can tell.
It's legal in a lot of states - and so is passing on the right (would be left here). Getting it to pull left after passing would be a lot of extra work, if you think about what else the car would have to consider (for example, keeping track of all of the lines for every traffic lane, even when they're obscured by other traffic).
At the moment, the Tesla Autopilot is designed to do a couple of things - cruise at a constant speed where possible, slow down to avoid hitting the vehicle in front if necessary, and keep within two white lines on the road. Everything else is the responsibility of the driver.
If they want to read a book while driving, they should stick to lane 1.
davepoth said:
It's legal in a lot of states - and so is passing on the right (would be left here).
Getting it to pull left after passing would be a lot of extra work, if you think about what else the car would have to consider (for example, keeping track of all of the lines for every traffic lane, even when they're obscured by other traffic).
At the moment, the Tesla Autopilot is designed to do a couple of things - cruise at a constant speed where possible, slow down to avoid hitting the vehicle in front if necessary, and keep within two white lines on the road. Everything else is the responsibility of the driver.
If they want to read a book while driving, they should stick to lane 1.
It also monitors the other lanes and if you indicate and it thinks it's safe, it will change lane for you. Getting it to pull left after passing would be a lot of extra work, if you think about what else the car would have to consider (for example, keeping track of all of the lines for every traffic lane, even when they're obscured by other traffic).
At the moment, the Tesla Autopilot is designed to do a couple of things - cruise at a constant speed where possible, slow down to avoid hitting the vehicle in front if necessary, and keep within two white lines on the road. Everything else is the responsibility of the driver.
If they want to read a book while driving, they should stick to lane 1.
It's all the responsibility of the driver, I'm kind of thinking the auto steer in a solution for a problem that doesn't really exist. I like to pick my position within a lane to afford better visibility, you can't on auto pilot. I think letting gentle steering pressure let the car err to one wide or the other then this would make it more involving. But at the moment, the better this gets, the more it will be abused the greater the chance that when it does throw a wobbly the driver won't be paying attention.
Tryke3 said:
I love driving and if i could buy a tesla i would just for auto pilot. Imagine being in the car for 4 hours reachinh your destination fresh and relaxed, i might even start enjoying driving again
That's the contradiction in the messages - on the one hand your sentiment is the belief of many as it's the one often portrayed, and then you read the small print that says the damn thing is not designed for anything but an aid and you need to be fully aware of everything going on and prepared to take control when it throws you towards the central reservation without warning or fails to spot a car broken down and half blocking a lane. This is more than a disclaimer like a coffee cup saying 'may contain hot fluid'. People do get caught out. Tesla will disown you if you have an accident using AP saying it's the drivers fault. I actually find the steering thing is a distraction as you're unable to position yourself in the lane for best visibility, and if you're letting it do its thing you wonder whether it's going to stray too far, so over taking a lorry on a motorway you're more conscious of your position to the lorry than you are reading the road ahead. This doesn't happen all the time, but it's a real mixed bag. As far as advanced driving goes this thing is designed for those sitting in the middle lane doing 75 following the car ahead and turning their brain off.Two scenarios when it's good. Very slow stop start queuing traffic without junctions (it will happily run a red light or give the finger to merging traffic) and relatively light motorways which aren't that stressful anyway.
Edited by JonV8V on Thursday 15th September 07:08
Tryke3 said:
I love driving and if i could buy a tesla i would just for auto pilot. Imagine being in the car for 4 hours reachinh your destination fresh and relaxed, i might even start enjoying driving again
auto pilot would have the reverse effect on me. However having driven an EV, I think on a long journey there will be less fatigue as theres no vibrations, gear changing and theres less braking. Despite being a calmer experience, the quietness seems to enhance the power on the getaway from the lights, so it's by no means a duller experience. I think Id only trust and enjoy auto-pilot in stop start congestion.
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