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WanderPanda | 3 months ago

Mechanically sure, but I still feel way safer when a Tesla (of any kind) is approaching me as a pedestrian or bicyclist than any other vehicle (except maybe Waymo) because I know they will alert the driver and brake if necessary. Any other car, especially older trucks, I'm quite afraid of, based on experience.

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toomuchtodo|3 months ago

> because I know they will alert the driver and brake if necessary.

This is not necessarily accurate.

https://x.com/TaylorOgan/status/1681240264554209281 ("Warning: Graphic; Last month, a 76-year-old pedestrian was tragically mowed down by a Tesla Model S in Brooklyn, NY. Both of his legs were torn off, according to witnesses. New data from the NHTSA says the Tesla was engaged on Autopilot/Full Self-Driving mode.")

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/model-y-doesnt-stop-...

https://www.tesladeaths.com/

I own several Teslas, would not trust them to stop for a pedestrian while in any driver assist mode. It may work, but if you rely on it, be prepared for consequences when it fails, as you are the responsible party when it fails.

romaaeterna|3 months ago

That first crash sure doesn't sound like Autopilot/FSD, given that the car kept going after the crash.

behringer|3 months ago

You would need to compare the data against the data of non-smart trucks. I'm guessing it's an order of magnitude more dangerous to be a pedestrian around a normal truck.

sfpotter|3 months ago

In my experience, Tesla drivers are some of the worst drivers on the road. They seem to pay the least attention to what's going on around them and are the most likely to pay fast and loose with the rules of the road. I don't know what's to account for this. There has been at least one study out of Berkeley that suggests that people who drive more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road. It's possible that (at least here in Seattle), this is more likely to be the driver's first car since many people driving them are highly paid tech workers who often hail from others countries and who may not have as good of a grasp of driving in the US. Or it may be that this is enabled by autopilot itself (if your car is taking care of the safety you don't have to pay as much attention).

dexwiz|3 months ago

The last reason is the biggest imo. Previously if you didn't pay attention you would crash relatively often. Now you aren't punished in the same way. In the same way spell check made us worse spellers. You aren't required to pay attention to detail, so you never develop that skill.

mschuster91|3 months ago

> There has been at least one study out of Berkeley that suggests that people who drive more expensive cars are more likely to break the rules of the road.

In Germany, we have a joke - BMWs don't need turn signal indicators, they have built-in precedence that comes with paying the money one needs to have to afford a BMW.

MattDaEskimo|3 months ago

May be misplaced considering Teslas have hit pedestrians. Additionally, many cars have pedestrian/object collision detection.

array_key_first|3 months ago

Virtually every car made in the past 5-10 years emergency brakes. I mean, modern Honda's have the same level of autonomous driving as Teslas.

micwag|3 months ago

Are collision avoidance system and automated emergency braking not standard in the US? Here in Switzerland basically every new vehicle has them.

maxeda|3 months ago

Given the amount of pedestrians that have been killed by Telsas in "autopilot" mode, I can't say that I agree.

vardump|3 months ago

Could you give me some numbers about deaths caused by Tesla versus other brands per mile driven? It seems to be very difficult to find enough information to draw any conclusions.