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Tesla Owner Tests Autopilot's Pedestrian Detection Skills, Is Not Impressed

Tesla’s Autopilot system has had its share of accidents, but the system is in a continual improvement. A Model S owner that calls himself “Kman” on YouTube has discovered that the vehicle’s active safety features do not always work as he believed.
Tesla owner tests Autopilot with human obstacle 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
He claims that Tesla’s description of the technologies fitted to the car is limited, thus making owners believe that the car could do more than its real capabilities.

However, the owner manual for the Model S explains clearly that the Forward Collision Warning will not try to apply the brakes or decelerate the car in any way.

Tesla’s owner manual also explains that it is the driver’s responsibility to take an appropriate action immediately.

Kman decided to test the Autopilot and the Summon features, with a clear focus on the Autosteer, Autopark, Auto Emergency Braking, and Traffic Aware Cruise Control.

In his tests, published on YouTube, the owner claims to have discovered two “serious flaws” in the operation of the Autopilot system.

While the Summon feature works as advertised, avoiding pedestrians with ease, the Autopilot and Traffic Aware Cruise Control systems failed to prevent a potential accident. The test involved a friend of the owner, who pretended to jump in front of the car while the system was engaged.

As the videos below show, the vehicle did not attempt to avoid the accident in any way, and the driver had to intervene manually to prevent hitting the pedestrian. The vehicle's owner's manual does not claim any of the systems could do anything of this nature.

The Forward Collision Warning feature was not supposed to attempt to brake and steer to avoid the impact. Instead, its sole purpose is to warn the driver of an imminent impact, without taking any precautionary measures. It is fair to note that the system did perform this task.

For safety reasons, the test was conducted at 18 mph (28 km/h), the slowest speed required for engaging Autopilot, as Electrek notes. Naturally, we advise you against attempting to replicate this test without professional assistance, as the consequences could be severe in the case of an accident.

In other words, the Model S owner has discovered that Tesla’s safety systems do work as explained in the owner manual, but their description is not clear enough for some users and may lead to accidents. Always stay vigilant while driving and never fully rely on sensors to avoid an accident for you.

UPDATE July 1, 2016: A Tesla spokesperson reached out to clarify this story. 

The Tesla representative underlined the fact that the Owner’s Manual contains numerous warnings and notifications that state that the driver must remain in control of the vehicle and keep their eyes on the road at all times.

Tesla explicitly affirms that the Traffic Aware Cruise Control should not be relied upon to prevent or avoid a collision. In layman’s terms, the phrase above means that a driver must rely upon the TACC to monitor traffic and press the brakes whenever required. Tesla explained it is a convenience feature, and not a safety system.

Furthermore, Forward Collision Warning is also a system for guidance purposes only, and does not substitute attentiveness and sound judgment. Meanwhile, Automatic Emergency Braking is a support feature for the driver, which is designed to help the operator in the case of an emergency.

The driver is still responsible of braking, and the system merely assists them if necessary. Those that rely on one of these systems to avoid a collision on their autonomously risk serious injury or death. As the Tesla representative explained, the Automatic Emergency Braking systems fitted to the Model S, and Model X cars are meant to engage the brakes at the last possible moment to avoid or mitigate a collision.

It is important to note that the system is disengaged if it detects the driver attempting to prevent the accident through a different strategy - like steering. However, the alert on the gauge cluster will still appear. Other automakers which employ similar systems have programmed the same behavior into the devices.

Tesla insists that this fallback safety feature, designed to operate at high levels of severity, should not be tested with live subjects. Moreover, the company’s representative underlines the fact that anyone that is attempting to strike another person or object purposefully with their Tesla (or any other vehicle, we might add) is misusing the car.

Tesla insists that safety is a top priority for the company, and that it is crucial for their customers to exercise safe behavior while driving, including remaining alerted and ready to resume control at all times when using the car’s autonomous features, as well as braking to avoid a collision.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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