I know that in this crowd that Tesla’s Autopilot does not exactly tend to stir up warm and fuzzy feelings. You’re all control freaks! Just kidding. But maybe the latest feature of the Version 9 update might tone down your Tesla oppositional defiant disorder a bit. It suggests to the driver to move back into the right lane after passing someone. Yeah!!
Of course at this stage it’s only a suggestion that needs confirmation before Autopilot moves you back where you belong, but Autopilot is supposedly very close to being able to make lane changes completely by itself without the current prompt, and it’s nice to know that it will then also make the change back into the right lane too. Without prompting.
Of course there’s the usual disclaimer/clarification:
“While initially the feature will require drivers to confirm lane changes using the turn stalk before the car moves into an adjacent lane, future versions of Navigate on Autopilot will allow customers to waive the confirmation requirement if they choose to. In both of these scenarios, until truly driverless cars are validated and approved by regulators, drivers are responsible for and must remain in control of their car at all times”
I don’t object to Autopilot…. for other people. Around here, a significant minority of drivers make decisions emotionally. Frustration, anger and strange territorial motivations produce hazardous, unpredictable driving, including poor lane choices. I think this Autopilot upgrade is another step in the right direction.
Slower traffic keep right* built into the algorithm… Nice!
Now, can we upload this yet into people’s brain’s? 😉
* This includes “Keep Right Except to Pass”.
Now, if only someone would develop the same feature for semis that hog the center lane on three lane freeways……..
Or one semi trying to pass another semi while both are going uphill.
The reason semis ‘hog’ the center lane on 3 lane highways is to avoid people who merge into traffic when entering the highway without looking. Ask any truck driver how many times they’ve had to swerve, or, worst case, have hit someone who didn’t leave enough room. Easier to stay in the center lane (on a 3 lane), then constantly changing lanes at every on ramp. I do the same (avoid the right hand lane) for the same reason when driving a car.
Yep. Nothing wrong with trucks in the center lane. Or any through-traffic, really.
Recently in British Columbia they passed a law to ticket left lane hogs. Although I have yet to see it enforced. Another change was the signage to keep right except to pass. The old signs said slower traffic keep right, and no one apparently likes to be called slow. It seems to make a small difference on the highways around here. One big problem is the highways on Vancouver Island are littered with traffic lights and left hand turns so sometimes that left lane hog is making a left a couple of miles down the road…
Indiana also passed a law that makes it illegal to cruise in the left lane. It has been in effect for maybe 2 years and, like you, I have yet to see one whit of evidence that it is being enforced. There is certainly no difference in how folks are actually driving.
I’ve worked in the tech industry for 20 years so I’m super tired of the “Silicon Valley thinking will fix anything” attitude, but Tesla actually puts their money where their mouth is, at least for this Midwesterner.
I think you can at least agree Tesla is the most exciting story in American auto making in a long time.
It’s exciting technology, sure. A future where cars are ride-shared instead of owned, can’t drive much more than a couple hundred miles on a charge, and are sold and serviced like a carrier-locked cell phone, well that I don’t find so exciting.
I think I encountered the Tesla engineer testing an early development version of the software. He was driving on I-880 about 10 miles north of the factory, going about 50 mph in a Model S with manufacturer plates, in the far left lane in moderate traffic (speed limit there is 65 mph). He was looking down and tapping away furiously on his cell phone. It didn’t change lanes, but did finally speed up after I passed on the right and pulled back in front of it. Note I say “it” and not “him”.
Autopilot turned out to be the least impressive thing about my Model 3 (at least in its current form). I did not purchase it with the car, but Tesla offered a 30 day free trial, hoping I’d cough up an additional $5.5k for the privilege of a semi-autonomous system that nags me to move the steering wheel every 30 to 45 seconds so it does not disengage (an aspect which I understand the need for, at least where the tech is now, but diminished the “self driving” feel for me). I also found the Autopilot system drove the car like an inexperienced adolescent at times, with sudden braking or jerky acceleration, habits I got over long ago. As for lane keeping, that was pretty impressive.
I’m not down on the tech overall; I do want it to succeed and develop to where those who have never been able to drive, or who can no longer drive for whatever reason, do not need to lose mobility and a sense of independence because of it. My own car still gathers data for Tesla, and provides all of the safety benefits of the Autopilot system, sans Autosteer. The one thing Autopilot did do very well was adaptive cruise control, which I wish I could have by itself.
I’m very happy with my car overall, and that Tesla has brought excitement back to the American automotive scene. I’ve had more fun, and more curiosity directed my way about my car, than anything I’ve ever owned previous, especially a sedan!
Hopefully it does something about middle lane hogs, too. They often seem to be auto-piloting anyway, completely oblivious to the traffic around them, passing two lanes to get past those #@!&:*!