Featured LIDAR business practices

I'm not discounting that lidar may be used in the future. It all depends on if they can get the software and hardware to all work together.

I bought my model 3 in 2018 with hw2. Even back then people knew what they were getting. Its over 7 years later and people have been slamming autopilot and supervised full self driving beta all the time I've had it so I doubt anyone responsible does not know. It really is the drivers responsibility. Purchased fsd in 2019 with the promise of updating my hw. They did update me to hw3 (I believe that is what bob has). I had to trade it in to get to hw4 and keep the software, which I did in 2024 (if I had known that they would offer that again I would have waited until last year).. Seriously I was underwhelmed in 2019, but I knew that going in. I wanted to see the evolution. I kept trying fsd but kept it on autopilot most of the time which rapidly improved. By 2024 autopilot was really good. Now the whole thing works really well and can take me to many places with no intervention except when it wants to change to the wrong lane or slows down. The visualization is really good. I definitely can understand people wanting a system from someone other than tesla, especially after the doge debacle, but no one else is nearly as close.

 

How does it work when driving down a 4 lane road, 2 in each direction. And a sign or a painted arrow or both indicate that the right hand lane is a right turn only lane and you need to get in the left/center lane? We have several on a route I'm newly taking and I wondered as I reacted and slipped in would this be sensed by a camera?

How does it handle a case where coming up to a suspended traffic light and your view is blocked by a semi until all of a sudden the truck clears and you see that red light? Slam on brakes or run the yellow turning red. How does it account for the closeness of the driver in back of you and their reaction space?

 

in 2018 not well at all. I haven't had it miss in the last year, but that maybe the mapping software.

It hits the brakes last seen a week ago. I often hit the accelerator in that situation when I want it to go through the yellow. It is still improving.

 

That suspended traffic light case was a real one for me. Coming off a 55 MPH stretch. 18 wheeler in front of me slows to a stop. I sense it and in my light great tires car come successfully to a stop. Truck behind me bailed out into the median. Compact car in back of that couldn't stop and slid into me. Her $1000 damage, me $350. I called her mother and calmed the driver down.

Me 25 years earlier traffic light on far corner blocked by a city bus stopped where the bus stop was right at the edge of the intersection. I was in the left lane and came through the intersection and bang. Low speed.

Traffic lights not visible can be a problem even for non-assisted drivers.

 

I believe from my last experience the tesla will brake hard. This was only 2 weeks ago but driver behind had time to slow and pull over into the shoulder (would have barely missed me. This was in standard mode. I belive it might have gapped wider to slow gentler in chill or sloth mode. The screen has great visualization so that I can hit the accelerator or take evasive action if alert enough to notice. This was on a 45 mph road. I think on a 55 mph or faster I would be in chill mode if there are lights. You can always speed up by hitting the accelerator but I like bigger gaps on those types of roads.

I agree completely. I think some of the new driving tools can help but they are far from infailable. Our city is slowly fixing dangerous intersections, but there is so much road construction and so many people new to the area I think I see more accidents (the ones you walk away from, not the fatalities.)

 

So the question remains. Does autopilot prevent or decrease deaths - or is it a wash

 

All legit numbers say it prevents deaths, but it may be because the fleet is newer and cars have very high safety ratings. So we don't fully know how much. We have iseecars that says it causes deaths but they likely used really low numbers for vmt, and would not share there methodology with anyone, but its their internal surveys. Likely the false data like hummers pollute less than prii. IIHS says it reduces by a factor of 3, but that is before the latest version. It is better now. Tesla is probably greatly exaggerating how many accidents and deaths it is preventing.