Tesla autopilot now gives red light warnings and a priority for lane changes

Tesla continues to improve autopilot capabilities in a documented and undocumented manner. Recently, the system has acquired two new features: detection of stop lights and detection of the intention to change lanes of other cars.

Lane change detection

In the last few weeks, some drivers have noticed that the autopilot seemed to detect the intention to change lanes of other cars, then slowed down to let other drivers change lanes in front of them.

It was hard to pin down because in traffic, it's hard to know if your car is slowing down because of the car in front of you because another car is encroaching on your track because the autopilot has become overzealous and has detected something that did not exist, or some other reason. The autopilot sometimes organizes "ghost braking" events in which the car detects something and responds surprisingly.

But now we have video evidence that this is happening, thanks to privaterbok, a Reddit user. He posted a video showing side by side the display of his model 3 and dashboard images indicating that the autopilot had seen a car wanting to change lanes and then braked to make room for the car. His model 3 is on the 2019.5.15 software, which began to be deployed about two weeks ago.

The sequence shows a Mercedes with flashing lights, changing lanes in the track to the right of the Tesla, stopping briefly and continuing to change lanes in front of the Tesla. When the Tesla notices the Mercedes, the car darkens on the Model 3's car display, indicating that the autopilot is paying attention. Shortly after, the model 3 applies the brakes, slows down slowly and gives the Mercedes time to make its way. This happens even if the car in front of the model 3 moves away.

So it really looks like an intentional lane change detection by the autopilot. Whether to react to the blinker or the movements of the car, we can not say the same, but as drivers suspected for a few weeks that their Tesla detected turn signals, it seems likely that the driver automatic is now able.

Stop light warning

Only a few weeks ago, we learned that the autopilot had begun to detect lines at intersections. Elon Musk, President and CEO of Tesla, recently told us that the autopilot would be able to handle traffic lights "soon".

With the new update 2019.8.3, Tesla has added an update note about the "Automatic shutdown warning" feature. Here's how it works:

Your car may warn you in some cases if it detects that you are about to start a red light while using Autosteer. This does not replace a caring driver and will not stop the car.

It's not really a standalone feature yet. This is similar to the language used by Tesla (and other manufacturers) to describe an automatic emergency braking system. This feature helps to apply the brakes when a vehicle slowing down or another object is detected in front. Rather than promise to completely eliminate the actions, these systems aim to reduce the severity of an accident.

So you must remain vigilant when driving your Tesla. But in the event of a small distraction, your Tesla could be a little safer.

Electrek's Take

It seems that the autopilot could have the effect of not only making drivers safer, but also more courteous. We have all met the type of people who will accelerate when they see your turn signal and do not let you in. Fisker even made an April Fool's joke to this effect, claiming that their "level 6" autonomous system would be able to aggressively push other autonomous cars out of the way. It was just a joke – but the Tesla software is real.

We also just received a demonstration of "Enhanced Summon" a few days ago, a feature that allows limited autonomy in car parks.

For those familiar with the Musk autopilot claims, they are sometimes a bit optimistic. But this time, "Elon Time" had to switch to daylight saving time, as it seems that autopilot upgrades are coming pretty fast nowadays. Between improved invocation, stopped light detection and lane change detection, the autopilot has seen many improvements in less than a month.

I'm still not optimistic about "total self-driving at the end of this year", especially since it seems to have been happening "this year" for a few years now. Tesla has continually declared his intention to take a car during a self – guided trip from one ocean to the other. They had originally planned to do it in 2017, but this year has pbaded as 2018 without event.

But Tesla surprised us in the past. Prior to the release of the autopilot, the Model S did not have any standalone functionality or driver badistance. Musk had then stated that he thought Tesla would be the leader in autonomous driving by the end of the year. Many laughed at this, but when Tesla unveiled the autopilot for the first time, they were catapulted from the rear to the foreground. The first autopilot tests have placed them in front of the driver badistance sets of other manufacturers in terms of their ability and ease of use. Tesla continues to maintain that lead so far, as the other automakers are almost up to their capabilities, but Tesla is still pretty much in the lead.

So, perhaps, with this quick succession of improvements, we will start seeing more and more deadlines instead of being missed. Do not fall asleep in your car, however, because we are not quite there yet.