Tesla's Autopilot

We’ve been talking about it in the AEB thread but now that this is officially released I think it needs it’s own thread.

Anyone been watching the fail videos show up on the web?

This one you’ll want to jump ahead to 2:50.

My guess is an update is rolled out soon to disable it in most driving situations. It’s clearly not ready for prime time and Tesla’s “you need to keep your hands on the wheel at all times” isn’t going to protect them. A little disclaimer with the release isn’t going to absolve them from responsibility when the car will violently dive into oncoming traffic or at a curb with almost no warning. Even if you use the system as they advise, and keep your hands on the wheel while letting the autopilot guide the car how many people will react fast enough to catch it when it randomly dives for oncoming traffic.

My favorite part of this whole thing is how they keep comparing it to a commercial flight’s autopilot, where the pilot needs to always be ready to take over at any time. Ok, sure, but a plane isn’t cruising on autopilot a couple feet away from other oncoming planes or the ground. If a plane’s autopilot randomly hiccups and moves the plane 3 feet to the left it doesn’t matter. If your car suddenly jumps 3 feet to the left on a double yellow curve there’s a good chance you die in a horrific head on collision.

My boss has been posting them none stop lol

Any videos where they let the car actually crash? I know it’s probably not likely, but it’d be interesting to see if it saves it from crashing last second.

According to the youtube comments it’s suppose to be highway use only. If that is the case then Tesla should disable it via gps for country roads, exits, city streets…

Its really hard to tell by those videos - it looks like they’re cruising ok then they grab the wheel and jerk it…they must really feel it pulling to instinctually grab the wheel that fast. sounds awesome & terrifying at the same time.

until i see a well done video i think these vids are bs…

Bump. First death due to autopilot


Autopilot failed to recognize a white tractor trailer against the bright sun, sent the car under the trailer sheering it’s roof clean off (and I’m guessing the dude’s head as well).

Ironically the driver posted a video to youtube a while back raving about how the autopilot saved him from a collision when a truck swerved into his lane. A truck that was clearly in his peripheral vision showing the guy made a habit of not paying attention while autopilot was engaged. News reported a movie was still paying on the Tesla’s screen when they reached the vehicle in his fatal crash.


Yeah, read about this yesterday. Even as great as this system is, they still are a ways away from being perfect. Hopefully, the government doesn’t step in and put crazy regulations on autonomous driving.

On a side note, the companies V7.1 software update has improved the function of autopilot drastically over what they rolled out in October.


Makes me wonder about how this guy was using the feature. With a name like ‘Autopilot’ I’m sure it’s hard to not want to let the car do everything while you read/sleep. (Or apparently watch Harry Potter like this guy was)

Hi, I’m America, have we met?

This is the land of knee jerk overreactions by government. I’m sure big changes will be coming down quickly.

It doesn’t nag you to keep you hands on the wheel like Mercedes or Volvo’s new system. Teslas system can go for very extended times with no driver input. The Merc and Volvo systems nag you every 15-16 seconds, and cancel if you don’t respond. I bet Tesla changes their software so it nags you more often.

Well when their end goal is to have self driving cars in the next few years I doubt it.

I’m all for it. I suppose it’s each companies own approach to autonomous driving. Tesla is definitely progressive.

Sorry but I don’t see how this concept is a plus. What do I gain when I have to constantly fade in and out of paying attention with a system / car that could decide to make the wrong choice at any moment? I’d rather just pay attention like I always do and and take my chances with making my own mistake. This would make me feel like I do when I ride in a car with my wife driving, which thankfully is very rare.

ME: “Hey Saint Peter, what happened? Last thing I remember was cruising along silently in my electric car and now I’m here at your desk.”
ST PETER: “Yeah, turns out someone left out a comma in one if the lines of code used to program the autonomous driving feature and the glitch sent you into a head on collision with that cement truck coming the other way.”
ME: “You know, now that you mention it, I do remember seeing that thing coming down the road.”

You have better situation awareness and reaction time vs a Tesla?

Not the issue here. The issue is the way Tesla has implemented this is extremely flawed. They’ve admitted the system isn’t ready to be a full time autopilot but have allowed it’s use in a way that encourages drivers to use it exactly in that manner.

The computers can’t be distracted from what they are doing. You can. Your wife can. Other drivers around you can. These features being used as an assist have been proven to drastically reduce the chances of accidents.

Not to mention that this is only the start. They will get better, smarter, safer from here. If it increases the chances of the people I love not being killed by someone texting and driving then I want as many on the road as possible.

^ All of this. These systems are the only reasonable solution to the masses of distracted drivers out there (short of people suddenly realizing the world doesn’t revolve around them). My only problem is the way Tesla has implemented it. It’s perfect as a system that catches the things you might miss in a moment of distraction but that’s not how they’re marketing it. By allowing it to operate with the driver not touching the wheel for such large periods of time then when something happens claiming, “Well, it’s not ready to be a full time autopilot, the driver is still supposed to be paying attention just like they were driving” I’m pretty confident they’re going to be found liable when this one inevitably ends up in court.

would be kind of awesome to sleep a couple hours on a road trip…wake up to pull over charge/pee/stretch, and go back to sleep for remainder of trip.
could leave in the middle of the night and wake up to vaca spot fresh early in the morning. keep it going tesla - lmk when i won’t die using your stuff, and I’m in.

Yeah man, I think about how boring it is doing highway driving on long trips and would love to be able to go to sleep or watch a couple movies. Of course I want to be 100% confident the car is going to recognize that jackknifed tractor trailer so I don’t get decapitated as it casually blasts under the trailer at 75mph as if it wasn’t even there.