The first batch of trials ended without any reported incidents but watching a few of the clips posted on the Internet (kindly put together by Twitter user Giuliano Giacaglia - @giacaglia), we can see there were a few instances where the driver's quick reactions saved the day. But that's the thing: people are bound to pay a lot more attention when testing the system, and considerably less when commuting back home after a long day at work.
After analyzing only a few videos out there - we count three, but we could be wrong - Giuliano identified eleven different instances where the vision-only system messed up, and at least one of them is seriously scary. You'll know it when you'll see it, but we will point it out, just in case. Better yet, we'll include a "Scare-o-meter" for each instance that uses a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.
#1: FSD nearly crashes into some planters after taking a left turn. "Scare-o-meter" rating: we'll give this one a five, not because it was particularly dangerous, but because it sat lurking around the corner, so it kind of popped out of nowhere.
#2: FSD fails to see massive concrete pillars in the middle of the road and veers toward them. Twice. "Scare-o-meter" rating: we know we said ten was the highest, but we'll give this one 12. Just look at how quick the driver's reactions needed to be and think of the potential consequences.1st: The car is driving through the city and doesn't recognize planters in the street and almost hits them pic.twitter.com/BkoJBNg0Zz
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#3: FSD thinks the Tesla is a bus and drives in a bus lane. "Scare-o-meter" rating: about one, though the other drivers might give it a higher grade considering how the car was swerving around like mad.2nd: The car doesn't recognize the monorails in the middle of the street and drives towards it! pic.twitter.com/SpxponRofW
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#4: FSD attempts to drive on a one-way street. The wrong way, obviously. "Scare-o-meter" rating: since there was no car coming down the street, we'll give it a three. If there were, it would have scored a solid seven or eight.3rd: The car goes through a bus lane instead of staying in the right lane pic.twitter.com/TrAaizyv06
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#5: FSD can't decide what lane to stay in for a right-hand turn and jumps from one to another. In fairness, it might have been put off by the car in front that sat right in the middle, but still, AI is supposed to be smarter than us, dumb human drivers. "Scare-o-meter" rating: one. It's mostly funny.4th: Tesla doesn't recognize a one-way street and the one-way sign in the street, and it drives towards the wrong way pic.twitter.com/zILlBl9Ezd
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#6: FSD wants to take the correct lane for a right turn too late. The driver says there was also another car behind that whose drive would have potentially perceived the maneuver as too aggressive. "Scare-o-meter" rating: we'll give it a five just because it happened at higher speed (50 mph).5th: Tesla can't decide which lane to use when turning a right in the next road. It keeps changing lanes pic.twitter.com/8iFv4vvFeN
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#7: FSD goes in one lane, then quickly tries to revert to the original one despite being an illegal maneuver, prompting the driver to intervene. "Scare-o-meter" rating: it's also a five, just because it was all over the place in heavy traffic.6th: It decides to go the proper lane too late pic.twitter.com/C41zex1KgI
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#8: FSD swerves a little to the right in preparation for a left-hand turn. Musk never said anything about the AI doing Scandinavian flicks. "Scare-o-meter" rating: we think it deserves a six just because it was such an abrupt maneuver and there was also a car nearby in the lane to the right.7th: It decides to go in one lane and then it figures out that it needs to go to the other lane but that's too late pic.twitter.com/g6KPanGxFz
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#9: FSD veers aggressively toward the cars parked on the left side of a two-lane one-way street after making a left turn. "Scare-o-meter" rating: eight. The AI seemed very determined to make contact with those cars.8th: it needs to turn left and decides to change lanes beforehand pic.twitter.com/xxQq3uknNm
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#10: FSD needs to cross multiple lanes for a left-hand turn and... it just can't. At the start of the clip the driver says, "take three", so this wasn't the AI's first time at this particular rodeo. To be fair, it's a pretty scary situation with three lanes of traffic to cross before having to merge. It's a bit like the old Frogger videogame. "Scare-o-meter" rating: a solid ten. And to make matters worse, the graphics on the display show the "intent vector" making a right turn, despite the navigational map saying a left turn is required. If that doesn't fill you with confidence, we don't know what will.9th: It turns left but it goes to a lane that is not supposed to pic.twitter.com/RVBEfErdM3
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
#11: Finally, the FSD mistakenly reads a stop sign as a double stop sign. Oh, come on, that's harmless. Well, if there was a car behind that assumed the Tesla would just drive off after clearing the first (and only) stop sign, then it's not impossible to imagine the EV stopping for no apparent reason could have resulted in a collision. "Scare-o-meter" rating: we can't give it more than a one, even if it could have potentially led to a crash.10th: Tesla needs to cross a few lanes to turn left and what it seems to be happening is that before it can cross all lanes it needs to be closer to the crossroad pic.twitter.com/I7aCFIQydv
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
If you made it this far, you probably deserve some sort of a conclusion. Well, the system still appears to be very jerky with confusing information displayed on the screen that would make any sane person switch it off and ask for a refund. Yet it also works for most of the time, and owners seem to tend to focus on that bit. However, some are just delusional. We've included one more clip showing the FSD navigating through some light fog. Unlike the previous clips, it's the actual footage that's relevant here, but what the driver says. He's talking about "within shooting distance of Level 5 autonomy." That's the kind of crazy, dangerous talk you don't want to hear from anyone with access to Tesla's FSD Beta 9.0.11th: It sees a double stop sign where there is only one pic.twitter.com/24FpcAMms5
— Giuliano Giacaglia ???? (@giacaglia) July 12, 2021
pure vision handles fog like a champ @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/Rx6KlBDl5F
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) July 10, 2021