Driver Attention and Takeovers: The Key to Tesla's Safety
Tesla's safety is largely dependent on driver attention and takeovers. Learn how this system is being trained to flawlessly recognize traffic lights and stop signs.
Whole Mars Catalog
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Yesterday, I had to take over to prevent my Tesla from running a red light. Due to weirdly angled traffic lights, it responded to the wrong light.
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 25, 2023
Does this mean the software should be banned? No. Takeovers are completely normal and safe, and driver attention is monitored. pic.twitter.com/feTcxtilXu -
Focusing on the rare tricky failure cases rather than how well it already works is silly, but it also misses the point.
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 25, 2023
As it’s used all around the country, this system is being *trained* to flawlessly recognize traffic lights and stop signs on sight and know how to respond. -
Imagine if all cars could read traffic lights, and were perfect at identifying which lights corresponded to their lane signs.
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 25, 2023
This would save a ton of lives, as the car can be a second set of eyes even when the human is distracted or incapacitated. -
The only way we know of to train a model that’s that advanced, that works every time even in real tricky scenarios is through massive fleet learning
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 25, 2023
Sure there are risks of driver inattention, but it is getting updated to perform better constantly & attention is monitored. -
Having every car understand what is happening around it is a turning point in automotive safety. It’s bigger than the seat belt and air bag combined.
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 25, 2023
And the way to perfect it is to train it with real world situations people experience every day. -
Critics often say “Well active safety is great, but don’t let it drive the car!”
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 25, 2023
Without the convenience features people pay for there’s no way to find the active safety features that go in every car for free. Nobody is building massive supercomputers just for active safety. -
The forcing function for progress in FSD’s “world model” is holding it up to the standard that it needs to be good enough to drive the car.
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 25, 2023
If it gets a light wrong, it won’t just be a flashing light on the screen you miss. You’ll notice right away, and correct it. -
That’s why Tesla is already starting to ship some of the best active safety features in the world, with the best yet to come.
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) June 25, 2023
Developing, training, and perfecting FSD will allow every car to understand what is happening around it, a revolution in road safety. https://t.co/Yk7TtPb2d3