A Tesla Model 3 driver mowed down 11 construction cones, shared the TeslaCam video, and blamed Tesla’s Automatic Emergency Braking feature powered by Autopilot.
The video serves as a great reminder to stay vigilant when using Autopilot, especially in construction zones.
A Model 3 driver going by “Richard FS” on YouTube was driving within the left lane on a highway in North Carolina when he drove right into a bunch of construction cones.
He blamed Tesla’s Automatic Emergency Braking, an lively safety feature powered by Autopilot, for the accident:
Tesla Model 3 with FSD option. Automatic Emergency Braking totally failed me on the one time I needed it most. With all of the phantom braking events I actually have experienced within the 2-1/2 months I’ve owned it, it does look like it could panic when it saw this coming.
Richard shared a video of the accident, which shows him hit 11 construction cones together with his Model 3:
https://youtu.be/i9r4nS5EjjQ
Electrek’s Take
For some reason, that video was hilarious to me. I mean, one cone, OK. Two cones? Perhaps. Eleven cones? Come on!
People have to do not forget that they’re all the time responsible to be able to intervene on Autopilot, and you can not ever depend on the Automatic Emergency Braking feature.
It’s meant to stop or reduce the impact of some accidents, however it cannot prevent all accidents.
That is all very true in construction zones. I drove a number of hundred miles on Autopilot last weekend and it went great, however it had issues in construction zones so I might just turn it off.
Tesla should definitely work on that, and AEB should give you the chance to react to cones, however it’s not a reason to only hit a bunch of cones.
Before the video starts, there will need to have been signs that a construction zone was coming and that the left lane would need to merge into the fitting lane.
When you see that, since you’re presumably being attentive, you must already either initiate a lane change through Autopilot or take over.
There’s no excuse for mowing down those 11 cones, but Tesla should still definitely use that footage to assist improve Autopilot and AEB.